A week after the U.S. invaded Venezuela and ousted its president, questions remain about what comes next for the South American nation \u2014 and the rest of the world \u2014 as a result.<\/p>\n
Brock University Associate Professor of Political Science Pascal Lupien\u00a0says this recent military action against Venezuela fits into a long-standing pattern of the U.S. government failing to respect \u201crules-based international order\u201d in Latin America and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor of Political Science Stefan Dolgert\u00a0adds that \u201cthe U.S. talked about defending democracy and preserving national\u00a0security, but, as has been the theme historically, it was simply about dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lupien says any pretense as to President Donald Trump\u2019s intention has now been stripped away, with the U.S. administration \u201csaying very openly that they intend to take Venezuela\u2019s oil and profit from their resources,\u201d making it all the more important not to lose sight of the historical context of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s regime, which originated with the free election of Hugo Ch\u00e1vez in the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s.<\/p>\n
Ch\u00e1vez notably\u00a0reasserted state control over\u00a0Venezuela\u2019s oil industry to limit the ability of international corporations to extract wealth from the country and ensure that oil industry profits remained in Venezuela to fund social programs.<\/p>\n
Lupien says these programs were the envy of much of Latin America in the early 2000s and a major source of tension with the U.S. government, which had reason to be concerned about a \u201cdemonstration effect\u201d that could inspire other Latin American nations to make similar efforts to keep profits at home.<\/p>\n
But in the face of ongoing internal and external pressure, and especially after Maduro succeeded Ch\u00e1vez in 2013, the regime grew more authoritarian and less popular. The most recent election in 2024 is widely believed to have been rigged.<\/p>\n
Lupien calls it an \u201cugly irony\u201d that the U.S., having removed Maduro, is otherwise leaving the ruling government in place with no commitment to a new election.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the 15 years during which this movement was democratically elected, the U.S. tried to sabotage it, and now that the government is not democratically elected, they are leaving it in place because it\u2019s easier to impose their will on the country through an authoritarian regime,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Further, Dolgert says \u201cit must be assumed Trump and his American regime will continue operating as authoritarians themselves, both at home and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n
This shift,\u00a0he says, also aligns with Trump’s broader imperialist ambitions, pointing to annexation and interventionist threats the leader has made about Panama, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Iran, Greenland and Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis fits with\u00a0a return to policies of the 19th century, with the U.S. leveraging Monroe Doctrine principles to legitimatize\u00a0its moves to exercise full control over any nation it wants at any time,\u2019\u201d\u00a0Dolgert says. \u201cThey\u2019re proclaiming that \u2018might makes right,\u2019 saying outright that since America is the most powerful nation, it has the right to act how, and take what, it wants, regardless of international laws.”<\/p>\n
Dolgert says Trump\u2019s revolutionized foreign policy strategy must also be considered within the scope of Russia\u2019s broader geopolitical realignment, with both countries simultaneously endeavouring to redefine where their spheres of influence begin and end.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe irony is that the U.S. is doing this with the fantasy that it\u2019s making them stronger, but it\u2019s doing exactly the opposite,\u201d Dolgert says.<\/p>\n
None of this, he adds, is good for Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are all fundamental, existential dangers for Canada\u2019s sovereignty and we\u2019ve woken up too late to it,\u201d says Dolgert.<\/p>\n
For now, Lupien sees major challenges on the horizon for the U.S. as they try to hold onto power in Venezuela \u2014 where current leaders are \u201call very committed revolutionaries with deeply ingrained anti-U.S. sentiment\u201d \u2014 or in any other country the U.S. may be interested in seizing for the extraction of resources or control of territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cToppling a president is one thing, but occupying and subjugating a country on a longer-term basis is something else entirely,\u201d he says. \u201cIn Venezuela, armed citizens and paramilitaries who are very committed to the revolution could well engage in long-term guerrilla warfare with any occupying forces.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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