What a century of U.S. interventions in Latin America say about Trump’s Venezuela gambit

Military actions. Covert operations. “Big Stick” diplomacy

The United States has a long and checkered history of intervening directly and indirectly in the politics, economies and social concerns of Latin American countries, stretching back more than a century.

President Donald Trump’s administration has already carved out its own unique spot on this extensive record by conducting military strikes on civilian vessels allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela.

Trump has also ordered a flotilla of U.S. warships, fighter jets, drones, thousands of troops and special forces units for potential operations on or in Venezuela as part of a pressure campaign aimed at President Nicolás Maduro. Trump appears to hold Maduro, a leftist dictator, responsible for gangs and drugs that end up on American streets. According to the latest reports, Trump has not yet made a final decision about what he plans to do in Venezuela.

But some experts and former officials caution that Trump needs to proceed carefully in Venezuela, or he risks entangling American blood and treasure in a region where various forms of intervention have been tried many times before to mixed results.

“This could end up being a very messy affair,” said Brett Bruen, a former American diplomat who served in Venezuela. “Yes, Trump should look at how to help restore Venezuela’s democracy. Yes, he should undermine narco-trafficking in Venezuela. But this isn’t the way to do it. It’s playing into Maduro’s hands,” said Bruen, who was the White House director of global engagement during the Obama administration. He now runs the Global Situation Room, a consultancy. Bruen added that if Trump starts striking Venezuela, Maduro could resort to “asymmetric attacks,” for example, on American tourists or business travelers in the wider Latin American region.

Still, Will Freeman, a Latin America fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said that while there are many cases where U.S. interventions in Latin America have been “destructive” for the nations and populations involved, it’s not as simple as that. Often this intervention has been welcomed, he said. Freeman noted that recent polling in Mexico shows that there’s a sizable proportion of the population − around 30% − that is open to the idea of unilateral U.S. strikes or special operations targeting that country’s cartels. “For people living under cartels, gangs and predatory governments, their biggest concern is not U.S. involvement; it’s keeping themselves safe.”

Here’s a look at some notable U.S. interventions in Latin America, why they happened and what the impact was.

Guatemala coup, 1954

What was the goal? Declassified CIA documents revealed the U.S. sought to remove Guatemala’s democratically elected president, Jacobo Árbenz, from power at least in part because he was enacting land reforms that were affecting U.S.-based United Fruit Company’s exploitative labor practices. To the Truman administration, which green-lit the plot, Árbenz’s regard for the rural poor also smacked of communism, the era’s bogeyman.

What happened? The CIA orchestrated “Operation PBSUCCESS,” a covert plan that fostered dissent and trained and funded anti-government rebels. The CIA considered assassinating Árbenz, according to the dossier of declassified CIA records. However, he resigned as president before that could happen and went into exile.

What was the impact? The U.S. helped install a military dictatorship under Carlos Castillo Armas, whose policies eventually triggered a civil war and led to mass human rights abuses during which more than 200,000 Guatemalans were killed or forcibly disappeared. Freeman, the Latin America fellow, said that coup shut down “the possibility for democracy.”

Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuba, 1961

What was the goal? The CIA trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba, overthrow Fidel Castro’s socialist revolution and government, which had close ties with the Soviet Union, and install a regime friendly to the U.S. What happened? The operation was poorly planned and executed, and word of the covert plans leaked even before the invasion happened. Cuban forces quickly crushed the invasion after one of the invading units landed at the wrong spot, CIA bombers missed many of their targets, and Cubans failed, against the CIA’s expectation, to rise up against Castro.

What was the impact? President John F. Kennedy’s administration was deeply embarrassed by the debacle. It strengthened Castro’s domestic popularity and pushed Cuba closer to the Soviet Union. Historians say it led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. It is now generally regarded as the closest the Cold War came to an all-out nuclear war.

Dominican Republic intervention, 1965

What was the goal? President Lyndon Johnson initially sent about 400 U.S. Marines into Santo Domingo to rescue Americans trapped and endangered by the outbreak of a civil war. Johnson also wanted to prevent a growing leftist movement from restoring ousted President Juan Bosch. The U.S. feared he might turn communist.

What happened? The size of the U.S. Marines’ force quickly ballooned. Eventually, thousands of U.S. troops became ensnared in what became known as the “Dominican intervention,” first as part of a unilateral military force and later in conjunction with an international force compiled by the Organization of American States.

What was the impact? The U.S. helped install a government under President Joaquín Balaguer. Balaguer promoted a strong public works program, building hospitals and schools. However, the government was tarnished by reports of political repression, forced disappearances and the assassination of opponents.

Panama invasion, 1989

What was the goal? Thousands of American soldiers arrived in Panama by land, sea and air to depose its de facto leader, Manuel Noriega, a onetime key U.S. ally who had been recruited by the CIA to help the U.S. stop the spread of communism in Central America. Bush wanted to bring Noriega to the U.S. to face drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges. The administration also suspected him of being a double-agent for Cuba’s intelligence agency.

What happened? “Operation Just Cause,” ordered by President George H.W. Bush, saw more than 20,000 U.S. troops invade the country and seize control of military and infrastructure sites. They were met by scattered resistance. Officially, 514 Panamanian soldiers and civilians were killed in the invasion. However, some local reports have put the figure at double that. 23 U.S. military personnel were killed.

Noriega was eventually arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents, but only after they hatched a plan to get him to leave the Vatican Embassy in Panama City, where he had taken refuge. That plan involved blasting music on loudspeakers in his direction at deafening volumes, around the clock. Among the songs played: “No More Mister Nice Guy,” by Alice Cooper, and “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath, according to official accounts.

What was the impact? Critics of the episode say it is an example of blatant U.S. disregard for the sovereignty of a nation. Noriega’s opposition, Guillermo Endara, was sworn in as president with the help of U.S. forces hours after the invasion.

Haiti intervention, 1994

What was the goal? There have been repeated U.S. interventions in Haiti stretching back to 1915, and far earlier, when President Woodrow Wilson sent 340 U.S. Marines into the island nation to try to restore order and maintain political and economic stability in the Caribbean. In 1994, as part of “Operation Uphold Democracy,” the U.S. military arrived once again as part of a multinational force aimed at reinstalling to power Haiti’s democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide had been ousted in a military coup three years earlier.

What happened? U.S. troops landed in Haiti unopposed and they were welcomed by enthusiastic crowds weary from three years of rule by a military junta. The invasion force numbered nearly 25,000 military personnel from all services, backed by two aircraft carriers and extensive air support.

What was the impact? The Haitian leadership quickly capitulated and bloodshed was largely avoided. Aristide was returned as Haiti’s leader. But the intervention in Haiti was a short-lived success. The U.S. led a new international intervention 10 years later, in 2004, when President Aristide’s government was again overthrown.

American interventions continued

• In Chile, the U.S. in the 1970s worked to end the presidency of Salvador Allende, a Marxist physician, and in turn helped usher in an authoritarian dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet.
• In the 1980s, the Reagan administration tried, but failed, to overthrow Nicaragua’s socialist Sandinista government and provided illegal aid to Contra rebels, leading to the Iran-Contra scandal.
• The U.S. provided hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance to El Salvador’s military during a civil war in the 1980s as part of Cold War policy to counter leftist insurgents.
• President Ronald Reagan ordered U.S. forces to invade the Caribbean island of Grenada in 1983 because of what was believed to be a threat posed to American medical students studying on the island by the nation’s pro-Marxist regime. Grenada’s government was overthrown in about a week. Nineteen American soldiers were killed.
• During Trump’s first term, his White House recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the interim president of Venezuela in 2019, providing political and financial support.