A rapid deployment Marine unit specialized in amphibious operations. Ten F-35 fighter jets. Three destroyers, a nuclear submarine and a speedboat suitable for detection and surveillance missions. And 10,000 troops, stationed at bases in Puerto Rico or aboard the aforementioned ships.
These numbers, which refer to a mini amphibious fleet, constitute the totality of the American military forces that have been deployed in recent weeks around the perimeter of its territorial waters, at the behest of the White House.
They reflect in the most objective way the tendency of Washington to constantly increase the pressure on Caracas. For the US government, which authorized the conduct of covert operations from within the territory of Venezuela, .
For its part, Venezuela denies the accusations, with the president speaking of pretexts that serve the attempt to seize the country’s natural resources.
Natural resources
Beyond the claims on both sides, what does this return of the US signal in the affairs of the American continent? The reasoning behind this particular shift in foreign policy should not be independent of the way the US president politicizes and the priorities he sets as he tries to fulfill his oft-spoken promise to “make America great again.”
The motive behind at least eight deadly attacks on crews of boats he said were carrying drugs is likely political and related to the US president’s decision to step up pressure on states in the US’s “backyard” as they withdraw from Europe’s Cold War theater.
The reasoning – aptly put by the Bloomberg columnist Andreas Clute describes as hemisphericism – has strong bases in both major parties, on the rationale that Washington’s involvement in international affairs should be limited.
There are also those who see an economic benefit in such a “turn”, stressing that the continent represents an economic opportunity, since it combines countries with high per capita income and strong purchasing power (Canada, USA, Brazil), robust medium-sized economies (Mexico, Chile) and developing states, rich in natural resources.
The last group corresponds to the case of the rich in Venezuela, with Trump even boasting in front of reporters at the White House that “Maduro is willing to give everything to avoid entanglement with the US”.
Such a finding certainly does not provide for pleasant developments, not only for Venezuela but also for a number of countries that are close to American interests. The recent attack on a boat off the coast of Colombia, in the Pacific Ocean, predisposes to the continuation and possibly escalation of Trump’s “war” in Latin America.
