The Wall Street Journal recently that Trump was reinforcing U.S. “dominance” over Latin America, noting that no U.S. president has used military and economic power on such a large scale since the Cold War to put such pressure on the region.
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Pressure with force
US warships and planes advance on Venezuela
Let's look at a piece of news first: NBC revealed on the 26th that the Pentagon is formulating an action plan against "drug traffickers" in Venezuela, or cracking down on targets in that country within a few weeks.
The British Broadcasting Corporation said that although the relationship between the United States and Venezuela has deteriorated for a long time, previous U.S. governments have not taken more radical measures in addition to blockade, isolation and recruiting surrenders and accepting traitors, and even once relaxed sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry.
And with the start of Trump’s second term as president, everything changed.
According to Reuters, since the United States deported about 200 Venezuelan immigrants by air in March 2025, the Trump administration's attitude towards Venezuela has become increasingly aggressive.
In August, the U.S. Department of Justice offered a reward of $50 million for the arrest of the leaders of the Commission on the pretext of "assisting drug cartels and street gangs."
U.S. fleet. Photo/Newsweek of the United States
Immediately afterwards, the United States dispatched a number of guided missile destroyers, amphibious assault ships and nuclear submarines to the waters near Venezuela, and added a large number of military aircraft, including the F-35, to Puerto Rico, which faces the sea from Venezuela.
Entering September, the US military showed its fangs and carried out many maritime attacks. According to statistics from the British "Guardian", the US military has sunk at least 4 Venezuelan ships and killed 20 people.
And the latest dynamic is the US planned attack on the Venezuelan mainland.
Venezuela's foreign minister complained to the United Nations that the United States "posed a shameful and illegal military threat to us" and tried to "plunder Venezuela's oil and gas wealth" through war.
Since the invasion of Panama in 1989, the United States has not made a big fight in Latin America for 36 years, and now this fragile peace situation seems unguaranteed.
02
Under the guise of "anti-drug"
US strengthens regional military presence
The encounter with Venezuela is not a coincidence, and in the past year, the United States has hit the Latin American country with countless slogans:
Threatening to seize the Panama Canal by force, forcing Colombia to accept expelled immigrants with high tariffs, sending more troops on the US-Mexico border and threatening to send US troops to "cross-border drug elimination", pressuring Brazil to list its criminal gangs as "terrorist organizations", and clamoring for sending troops to Haiti to suppress gangs...
According to the US "Atlantic Monthly" report, in order to find excuses for using force, senior US military generals called the Caribbean a "transit point for light weapons and drugs", but did not mention that more than 70% of the guns involved in the case came from the United States, and that due to drug abuse and official connivance, the United States has long been the world's largest drug consumer market.
According to the Times, most of Latin America’s drugs come from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, rather than Venezuela, and official data also show that most of the cocaine that enters the country is transported through the Pacific Ocean and is also unrelated to Venezuela.
Moreover, drug control is different from fighting.
The British "Dialogue" website stated that using strong military power to deal with drug trafficking groups is like "killing chickens with a knife". Instead of eradicating them, it will produce a "balloon squeeze effect" and spread crimes to other places.
Foreign media believe that the deterioration of public security and rampant crime in many Latin American countries in recent years are closely related to the US-led "war on drugs."
The U.S. "foreign policy" magazine said that the Trump administration has significantly reduced foreign anti-drug aid, and while flagging the "drog cleansing" banner, sending the Navy Air Force in the Caribbean region to "let the war impulse prevail over the cooperation strategy", this will only be appropriate.
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The hegemony wall.
The "New Monroe Doctrine" will not work
Foreign media said that the current US Secretary of State rubio is the real "behind-the-scenes trader" in shaping the Trump administration's Latin American policy.
The descendant of the Cuban immigrant believes that “ignoring the Western Hemisphere damages U.S. interests” and claims that “this situation is now over.”
So, from the first day of the Trump administration, it has taken a “more confrontational way” and called on Latin American countries to “quickly express themselves and stand up.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, those allies who admired and identified Trump made deals with him and got enthusiastic hugs.
And those leaders of Latin American countries who dare to protest, especially Brazilian President Lula, Venezuelan President Maduro, and Colombian President Pedro, find themselves targeted by the United States, such as Petro, who has been revoked by the U.S. Department of Visa.
John Hopkins University researcher Gerdan said the Trump administration viewed Latin America as a “background” and believed it could “conduct the region to succumb and be loyal through arrogance.”
But times have changed. Petro severely criticized the "New Monroe Doctrine" of the United States waving a big stick at Venezuela. Lula called the U.S. troops stationed in the Caribbean "the root of tension". Mexico called for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. Most member countries of the Caribbean Community also hope to avoid conflicts through diplomatic means.
Venezuelan Air Force fighter jets. Picture/CNN
Venezuela even responded to the threat of US force with large-scale military exercises, mobilization and training of militia, and sending fighter planes over US ships.
The Committee on Foreign Relations, a well-known think tank in the United States, warned that if the U.S. military directly attacks Venezuela or overthrows Maduro's regime, it may trigger civil strife and a large-scale refugee tide in the country, resulting in social unrest and development stagnation in the whole western hemisphere.