{"id":34328,"date":"2017-08-12T22:07:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-12T22:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/12\/analysis-trump-military-talk-on-venezuela-unnerves-latin-america\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:06:13","slug":"analysis-trump-military-talk-on-venezuela-unnerves-latin-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2017\/08\/12\/analysis-trump-military-talk-on-venezuela-unnerves-latin-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Analysis: Trump ‘military’ talk on Venezuela unnerves Latin America"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CARACAS, Venezuela \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s talk of a \u201cmilitary option\u201d in Venezuela risks alienating Latin American nations that overcame their reluctance to work with the Republican leader and had adopted a common, confrontational approach aimed at isolating President Nicolas Maduro\u2019s embattled government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well before Maduro himself responded, governments in Latin America with a long memory of U.S. interventions were quick to express alarm over what sounded to them like saber-rattling. Even Colombia \u2014 Washington\u2019s staunchest ally in the region \u2014 condemned any \u201cmilitary measures and the use of force\u201d that encroach on Venezuela\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maduro has long accused Washington of having military designs on Venezuela and specifically its vast oil reserves, the world\u2019s largest. But those claims were dismissed by many as an attempt to distract from his government\u2019s failures to curb problems such as widespread shortages, spiraling inflation and one of the world\u2019s worst homicide rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor years he\u2019s been saying the U.S. is preparing an invasion, and everyone laughed. But now the claim has been validated,\u201d said Mark Feierstein, who served as President Barack Obama\u2019s top national security adviser on Latin America. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine a more damaging thing for Trump to say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timing of Trump\u2019s remarks could not be worse, coming on the eve of a four-nation Latin America trip by Vice President Mike Pence intended to showcase how Washington and regional partners can work together to promote democracy in the hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week in Peru, foreign ministers from 12 Western Hemisphere nations condemned the breakdown of democracy in Venezuela and refused to recognize a new, pro-government assembly created by Maduro that is charged with rewriting the constitution but is seen by many as an illegitimate power grab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States did not take part in the meeting, a show of deference to countries historically mistrustful of heavy-handed policies out of Washington. Suspicion and resentment linger in many corners of the region, a reflection of years past when U.S. troops did in fact invade parts of Latin America to oust leftist leaders or collect unpaid debts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet a number of leaders, amid prodding from the Trump administration, have lately been overcoming their reluctance to intervene in a neighbor\u2019s internal political affairs after looking the other ways for years on Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, leaders have started using the D-word \u2014 dictatorship \u2014 to describe Venezuela\u2019s government and have recalled their ambassadors from Caracas in protest. Peru on Friday went so far as to expel Venezuela\u2019s ambassador, and last week the South American trade bloc Mercosur suspended Venezuela for violating the group\u2019s democratic norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more surprising, with the exception of close ideological allies such as Cuba and Bolivia, no country spoke out against Trump\u2019s decision to slap sanctions on more than 30 Venezuelan officials, including Maduro himself, despite past criticism of similar unilateral actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not even the frustration over Trump\u2019s decision to partially roll back Obama\u2019s opening to Cuba \u2014 a diplomatic thaw that was applauded across the region\u2019s political spectrum \u2014 or his constant talk of building a border wall to keep out immigrants got in the way of presenting a united front toward Maduro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the swift reaction to Trump\u2019s \u201cmilitary\u201d remarks shows there is no appetite in the region for U.S. troops to get involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday the nations of Mercosur, which includes Brazil and Argentina, issued a statement saying \u201cthe only acceptable means of promoting democracy are dialogue and diplomacy\u201d and repudiating \u201cviolence and any option that implies the use of force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t