LOS ANGELES (oc).–Seizing 63-year-old Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his 69-year-old wife Cilia Flores in an unprecedented early morning raid in Caracas Jan. 3, President Donald set a new standard for the 1823 Monroe Doctrine but, more importantly, the 1947 Truman doctrine. President James Monroe declared that the U.S. was in control of the Western Heminisphere and European powers should stay out of the region. When the Monroe Doctrine was revised by President Harry Trump in 1947, it came at the end of WW II where the Soviet Union launched a power grab designed to give Russia a defense shield in the wake of some 28 million Russians in WW II at the hand of Germany’s Nazi regime. Trump decision to arrest Maduro sets as new standard for the Truman Doctrine. Following WW II the U.S. and other European Countries were licking their wounds from WW II.
Trump’s arrest of Maduro and his wife have been smeared by foreign leaders has a modern act of piracy, no a law enforcement effort to stop a known drug trafficker from continuing to meddle in the internal affairs of the United States. Since taking over Venezuela after Hugo Chavez’s death in 2013, Maduro ran Venezuela into the ground, worsening an already intolerable economic condition. With the world larges oil reserves in Venezuela once 350 billion barrels, there’s simply no excuse for Maduro to destroy the state’s economy, forcing some 13 million citizens to flee the country for asylum, primarily in the United States. Once a close OPEC ally, Russia has taken Trump’s takeover of Venezuela in stride, viewing it as the U.S. asserting its power in its own hemisphere. Moscow views Trump’s actions in Venezuela as an excuse for Ukraine.
Referring to Trump’s actions as “piracy” and “regime change,” some Russian nationalists see the events as robbing Moscow of a useful ally in the Western Hemisphere, much like the role they once played in Cuba during the Cold War. “Russia has lost an ally in Latin America,” said a senior Russian official speaking anonymously. “But if this is an example of Trump’s Monroe Doctrine in action, as it seems to be, then Russia also has its own sphere of influence,” referring to its rights to protect its border from NATO encroachment in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t too concerned about Venezuela knowing that Trump appears more on Russia’s side in ending the Ukraine War. Trump’s adventure in Venezuela diverts attention from the efforts to end the Ukraine War. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky no longer seem as Trump’s top priority.
Putin understands the idea of a Monroe Doctrine, or, more recently, the Truman Doctrine, that has the U.S. preventing infiltration of Russia or its surrogates into the Western Hemiisphere. Putin wants the U.S. and EU to stay out of his backyard, furnishing unlimited cash-and-arms to Ukraine. Putin asked Biden for months before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion to work on new security arrangements for Ukraine. Biden ignored Putin’s requests prompting Putin to move 200,000 Russian troops across the Ukrainian border. Zelensky has fought an entirely unnecessary war with Russia destroying his country and losing precious sovereign land over four years of war. Putin understands the importance of health boundaries, asking Trump to respect Russia’s sovereignty. Trump has asked Zelensky to end the war by trading land-for-peace but, so far, Zelensky has resisted ceding territory to Putin.
Trump’s adventure in Venezuela could not have happened at a better time when Russia was bogged down with Ukraine. Trump has led the peace process in Ukraine, only to find reluctant participants in Russia and Ukraine. Whatever ally relationship Putin had with Maduro, Russia is simply to consumed with Ukraine to act to save Maduro, especially after Russian ended Russia’s involvement in Venezuelan’s oil industry in 2000. Putin has no vested interes in Venezuela, especially now that Trump is in power. Trump wants Putin to maintain control over Russia and what’s left of his influence on Eastern Europe. Putin wants to be on Trump’s good side and most likely will accept Trump’s terms for peace sometime soon. With Venezuela, Trump asserts himself as a bold world leader, doing what’s best for national security in the United States.
All the Democrats politics and fake news obscure a major foreign policy triumph for the United States in Venezuela. Russian officials see Trump as the most powerful, consequential American leader in generations, accepting fully Trump’s assertion of the Monroe and Truman Doctrines asserting the U.S. right to control the Western Hemisphere. Before the Ukraine War, Putin would have been inclined to intervene on behalf of Maduro. But since bogged down in Ukraine, Putin doesn’t have the resources or will to deviate from his current foreign policy quadmire. Trump served notice to the rest of the world, including Europe and China, that the U.S. under Trump will do what’s best for U.S. national security. Whether Trump’s move in Venezuela emboldens Putin in Ukraine or Xi Jinping in Taiwan is anyone’s guess. Trump sets a new standard for U.S. foreign policy.
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.
