LOS ANGELES (OC).–President Donald Trump renewed the ugly American label in Latin America, arresting 63-year-old Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his 69-year-old wife Cilia Flores Jan. 3 in a brazen early-morning raid at his fortified military compound in Caracas. Trump actions renew calls of American imperialism, exploiting Latin America for its mineral wealth and energy riches in bygone years. America’s history in Latin America prompted the export of communist revolution with the likes of Argentine-born Che Ernesto Guevara, a symbol of Latin American pride and freedom from American bondage. Trump’s arrest of Maduro raises the age-old debate regarding the U.N.’s promise of sovereignty and international law, raising concerns that Trump has returned the U.S. to a foreign policy designed to divide=and-conquer not work cooperatively with Latin American nations.
Whether Democrats and the fake news rail against Trump’s policy, there’s no question that it returns the U.S. to a position of strength in the region. Trump has been promoting his American First foreign policy, something vacillating from anti-war to now using the Pentagon to achieve certain unattainable goals like stopping the flow of dangerous drugs into the United States. Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have implemented a lethal policy against naro-trafficking something they refer to a narco-terrorism to justify the use of lethal force against boats suspected to trafficking narcotics on the open seas. Trump was the first and only American president to use the Pentagon to liquidate drug traffickers. Since Sept.2025, the Pentagon has struck 30 vessels, killing 100 seamen. Democrats in Congress have called Trump’s policy extrajudicial killing.
To pull off the feat of arresting Maduro and his wife, Trump had the cooperation of the Venezuelan military, now tasked with running the country’s transition government under Vice President Delcy Rodriquez. Trump’s CIA and FBI worked for months to get rid of Maduro who most people agree was a despicable dictator who ran the country into the ground since taking over the country from the late communist revolutionary Hugo Chavez. Chavez came to power in 2002, taking five years to confiscate the assets of U.S. and foreign oil companies that developed Venezuela’s prolific oil industry, once capable of producing 3.5 million barrels a day. Venezueal still produce about 1 million barrels a day with a reserved of extra-heavy crude oil at 303 billion barrels, the largest in the world. Trump wants to restore presence of the U.S. oil industry in Caracas.
Trump was reluctant to tell the press how exactly the U.S. was running Venezuela, only saying that Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was working with the White House to effectuate an orderly transition from Maduro’s communist government. Trump said Venezuela was a “broken country,” after Maduro ran the country like his own piggy bank. Judging by the 12 million Venezuelans seeking asylum in the United States, it shows the extent of the public’s disgust with the Maduro government. “We’re going to to run it, fix it, we’ll have elections at the right time, but the main thing it is a broken country,” Trump said. Whatever Trump’s critics say about Venezuela’s right to sovereignty and international law, Maduro broke his authority when he no longer provided a viable economy to keep his citizens employed. Venezuelans have fled the country, especially anyone opposing Maduro rule.
Trump issued a warning to Cuba and Columbia, two of his harshest critics, despite the obvious problems in both countries. Columbia has the most extensive cocaine trade in Latin America, showing how it makes its cash illegally. When it comes to Cuba, Secretary of State Macro Rubio, who’s family left Cuba because of the communist revolution, he would like to see the U.S. takeover the Cuban government. Whatever ties Cuba has made with Russia and China, the island nation, only 90 miles from Miami Beach, is racked with poverty, barely able to survive. Trump said Cuba was “ready to fall,” attesting to the intolerable conditions for ordinary Cubans. Trump’s arrest of Maduro threw the global community for a loop, prompting condemnations from Russia, China, North Korea and most Latin American countries, except Argentina that backs Trump.
Trump restored U.S. global standing as a force to be reckoned with, watching the brazen operation that arrested Maduro and his wife. Whether admitting to it or not, Trump has the backing of the Venezuelan military, including opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia who said it was a step in the right direction. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said she would make every effort to work with the White House to bring about change. Trump won’t be satisfied unless Venezuela turns the corner away from communist dictatorship, but, more importantly invites the U.S. oil industry back to Venezuela to revitalize its flagging oil industry. Whatever happens to Maduro and his wife in the U.S. justice system, he won’t return to power in Venezuela anytime soon. Trump’s biggest problem is with Democrats and the fake news, not with restoring Venezuela to order.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
