The standoff between the United States and Venezuela has been seen as a familiar script in the theater of the International Regime. Where power and protection intertwined in a complex way. Under the renewed administration of the United States, they have already turned their gaze towards Venezuela and have started military deployment. The main reason given is that it’s part of the Global campaign against drug trafficking labelling it as ‘Narco Terrorism’. However, with this situation at hand, the question that arises is, Who defines Protection and under what authority does such protection extend beyond one border?
Pressure in the Caribbean
A decade has passed since the United States positioned itself as the Global Defender of Peace and democracy. The actions in the Caribbean are justified by the US administration as its counter-narcotics policy, allegedly targeting the trafficking routes and criminal networks said to operate under Venezuela Protection. President Nicolas’ government had been accused of turning the nation into a safe haven for cartels. Mentioning the Cartel de los Soles and Tren de aragua as backed by the President Maduro, not only affecting Latin America solely, but the United States national security as well.
Washington, for the sake of national security, has mobilized the military in the region slowly over the years. Caribbean waters are patrolled by nearly 4,000 American sailors and marines. Also the US has reported carrying out 14 strikes since September on vessels near the Venezuelan coast. The aim is to disturb the drug flow and dismantle transnational criminal networks. However, the Venezuelan administration as well as critics see this as a projection of military power and a threat to Venezuelan sovereignty, which is raising tensions in the region.
In response to the US naval buildup President Maduro, states that Venezuela will protect its sovereignty on its own. They believe that the U.S. narrative is just a political fabrication. In order to delegitimize the Venezuelan government and to prepare the ground for regime change. The coastal and border troop presence of Venezuela has increased stating that it’s a defensive move rather than provocative.
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Another situation, where the United States put a reward of 50 million for the arrest of President Maduro for drug trafficking charges. It may seem like a symbolic action, but it has worsened the situation more. The long standing dilemma in global politics, one of protection and the other of provocation. where the narrow line between security and sovereignty is blurred. The question that comes to mind while revisiting history is, where do Protections end and interference begin?
Peace Effort or Self Interest?
Amidst this situation, a sharp divide emerges within the United States itself. President Trump’s proposal to authorize a direct military strike on Venezuela was rejected by Congress. This was marked as one of the most important rebukes of his administration’s foreign policy ambition. To justify such intervention, Trump lacked evidence and constitutional authority. Some critics argue that the administration’s narrative of counter narcotics protection seems less about protecting national security rather asserting dominance under the disguise of security.
Trump’s characterization of Venezuela’s leader as a drug trafficking dictator seems to be an older American narrative, Guardian and Offenders. Yet the complexity of Latin America is not as it seems, the drug routes are regional, not national, they are shaped by poverty, corruption and demand, which mostly originated within the very society that claims to combat them.
Perhaps the most unsettling aspect is the absence of any collective mandate. The warship patrols foreign waters under the so-called global peace effort against narcotics is being directed by the United States, not the United Nations or a coalition of states. The unilateral execution brings the question of
Who truly safeguards whom and at what cost?
