STEVE ELLNER, [email protected], @
Ellner, is a retired professor at the Universidad de Oriente, Venezuela, and currently associate managing editor of Latin American Perspectives. See his writing at NACLA.
He said today: “The evidence that the U.S. Navy’s buildup in the Caribbean is not about combating drugs but rather regime change in Venezuela is overwhelming. Perhaps the most obvious is that the U.S. is obliterating small boats and their crews, rather than capturing the men and forcing a confession from them. No names are released.
“In his first government, Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hoped that tough talk alone would intimidate the Venezuelan military into staging a coup. Now the intimidation is being taken to higher levels and will most likely involve some sort of military action on Venezuelan soil. But if that happens the expression of anger among Latin Americans of all persuasions will be overwhelming.
“In addition, Nicolás Maduro has proved to be a combative president who has mobilized the patriotism of the nation’s military and also broad swaths of the population. His call for citizens to enlist in the militia to repel a foreign aggressor has resonated widely even among men and women belonging to the opposition.
“Opposition leader Bernabé Gutiérrez, who heads one of the two factions of Venezuela’s traditionally largest political party, Democratic Action, supported Maduro’s call for enlistment. Gutiérrez declared it’s necessary ‘to be prepared to confront any act of cowardness on the part of Trump.’
“Like always, President Trump’s actions are unpredictable. But whatever military course he chooses, Washington will pay a price.” Ellner has also recently posted regarding Argentina.