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Written by Uriel Araujo, Anthropology PhD, is a social scientist specializing in ethnic and religious conflicts, with extensive research on geopolitical dynamics and cultural interactions
The arrival of a major US aircraft carrier strike group in the Caribbean this week has sent shockwaves across Latin America, bringing back a new version of the Monroe Doctrine in the context of the New Cold War in the Hemisphere. The deployment marks the beginning of a massive Trump administration military operation framed as a twin “war on drugs” and “war on terror” campaign in a way that, ironically enough, is also reminiscent of the George W.
CNN Brasil reports that Caracas has mobilized thousands of Russian-supplied missiles in response.
Washington’s messaging has been sufficiently vague to allow multiple interpretations, but broad enough to justify a sweeping regional buildup. The operation is unprecedented in scale, which raises the stakes for Venezuela and its allies, with the US selling the operation as an “anti-cartel” surge across the continent.
Adding yet another layer of complexity, US President Donald Trump reportedly has simultaneously floated the possibility of talks with his Venezuela counterpart Nicolás Maduro, in a move that shows, once more, Trump’s erratic diplomatic zig-zags. So much for strategic coherence.
Be as it may, the current American presidency is inaugurating a new stage in Washington’s continental security doctrine — one blending counterterrorism rhetoric with narco-politics, producing an elastic justification for power projection anywhere from the Andes to the Antilles.
The “war on drugs” rhetoric can hardly be taken seriously: it is worth noting, for one thing, that most of the drug supply fueling the United States’ drug problems originates from Mexico and Colombia. According to estimates by US agencies themselves, around 90 percent of the cocaine consumed in the US comes from Colombia and is trafficked into the country via Mexico.
Back in August I wrote that the US naval buildup was “about intimidation, not invasion — at least for now… but history teaches us that intimidation often precedes escalation”. At that time, such an assessment seemed cautious enough. But circumstances evolve, and the sheer scale of current deployments raises the question: are we approaching the threshold where intimidation morphs into direct military action?
Officially, Trump’s advisers deny any intention of invading Venezuela. Yet “denials” have historically served as preambles to escalation. On the other hand, as Asia Times puts it, bellicose signaling toward Venezuela turns out to be a “gift to China” , strengthening Beijing’s argument that Washington uses militarized coercion instead of diplomacy. Global perceptions matter, after all.
In any case, Caracas believes it is under existential threat — and acts accordingly. CNN’s Latin America desk has reported that Venezuela has asked both Russia and China for security assistance while CNN Brasil has reported the same, with additional details on military coordination requests.
Thus far, Moscow and Beijing have responded with rhetorical firmness but calibrated restraint. Still, warning signs abound. Alexey Zhuravlyov (deputy head of the Russian parliament’s defence committee) has been quoted as saying that Moscow could provide Venezuela with its intermediate-range ballistic Oreshnik missiles. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in turn, recently said that the Kremlin is “ready to fully act within the framework of the obligations that were mutually stipulated in this agreement with our Venezuelan friends.”
Beijing in turn has escalated its support by unveiling a new “zero-tariff” trade deal with Caracas during the Shanghai Expo 2025, an agreement announced by Venezuela’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade, Coromoto Godoy. For Beijing, it provides a commercial and strategic entry point into the Western Hemisphere at the very moment Washington is tightening its sanctions amid tensions.
Such an alignment should not be underestimated. The crisis provides a strategic opening for China to strengthen its presence in Latin America while portraying itself as a stabilizing force. Unlike Washington, Beijing does not carry the baggage of decades of military interventions in the region. Underreported economic ties, infrastructure investments, and energy partnerships give China substantial leverage — enough to reshape regional diplomacy without firing a single shot. No wonder Chinese analysts frame Trump’s operation as a self-inflicted geopolitical loss for Washington.
If one examines Trump’s pattern — improvisational enough to produce shocks but cautious enough to avoid prolonged troop commitments (hence “TACO”) — a full-scale invasion still remains unlikely. However, targeted strikes or special operations raids cannot be ruled out. Limited action could be sold domestically as “decisive,” without entangling the US in occupation duties. Yet even limited strikes would still carry vast escalation risks.
Back in July 2025, I argued that Trump’s Venezuela policy was driven by “hyper-pragmatism” and corporate cost-benefit calculations, particularly regarding Chevron’s return to Caracas. If strikes destabilize Venezuelan oil fields, global supply could tighten overnight, driving prices upward. This would erode the foundations of Trump’s domestic economic message, not to mention it would create headaches for US energy companies operating — or trying to operate — in the region. The problem is that Washington does not always act according to pure rational economic logic, so extreme scenarios should not be dismissed so quickly.
The standoff in any case is a sovereignty crisis for Caracas; but also an opportunity for Russia and China in the context of the New Cold War. Moreover, it is a unity test for Latin America — and a high-risk gamble for the US.
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cold war would be preferable to the usa’s active support of proxy warfare. which employs wishful thinking in avoiding nuclear war while using useful idiots to do the fighting. though somewhat successful the blowback may come in the form of unpredictable consequences .
in the term “useful idiots”, you have to include russia. they are perfectly right about the nazis and darwins mercenaries, but when they mention “root causes”, the big alarm bell should sound. the root cause are the existence of “us”, christianity, and probably faked “nuclear weapon”. as you maybe have observ, nobody are intimidated to not attack russia 😂
no the root cause is the desire to rule the universe ,to own everything and all from one position elected only by an elite minority ,exactly as rome functioned exactly as communism functions .
rome before the total takeover of the world that is when they changed bc and ad into meaning the time when caesar decided he would appoint his heir .not the senators so you see we don’t measure time by jesus ,we measure it now by hereditary absolutism .autocratic absolutism .
called the common era .it’s now before the common era .were in the common era now .have been for ages .it’s how the futures planned starting when they get popular approval ,when they can come out and atop pretending to be what they are not .it’s just programming .reprogramming like when we switched to decimal currency and metrics.from the pound and imperial now it’s the universal empire.
rome 😂 so rome try to rule the world today ?
and …. upstairs for thinking downstairs for dancing twinkletoes do i have to spell it out ? rhetorical and just exactly what will that do for europe s ” confidence ” if it appears that , looks like america’s not going to rescue them when russia china turn the guns on their sorry arses?????
it is “us” which have told russia and china which arses they should point their guns at. exactly as with family bush finance of adolf hitler rothschild, another imbecille and suicidal clown 🤡 of european “elites”. he fell for his khazarian hate of russia, and the podels in today europe are ruled by the same hate. there are two proxies for satan, “us”, in ukraine. he could as well be in another galax, the atlantic protect him from his actions. version 2 of europe as scapegoat.
no that’s just one of their stories they push out .
the atlantic are as “the holy water”. have you cross it, you can murder as much you want, and start wars as much you want. you only have to send bad and stupid trick movies for to convince the mad apes about your holiness. its the old egyptian walking cadavers, which mass murder in the hospitals, after they have acquired holiness. all russia say are: amen.
russia and china won’t lift a finger to help venezuela. just like the arab quisling whores did not lift a finger to help gaza.t
because ” they’re all in it together “
and here’s the cold front
globalism 101: mamdani says nyc is “a city of international law,” not the us constitution.
that’s them pulling his strings and soros paid 40 million to get him elected ,and they didn’t check any voter id .at all .
that’s what they want global communism where you will own nothing ,(but liabilities) and will be happy because you won’t know what even happened
allegedly . ,
14 february 1966 , the year if legalising the church of satan ,australia went decimal / metric. the queen’s pictures were removed from classrooms ,and the singing of god save the queen ceased .nativity scenes were banished from public display .
then remembering the 5 november ,guy fawkes day was banned .then in perth capital of wa in london court the clock where saint george would pop out and kill the old dragon ,satan on the hour was silenced .etc
“russia’s medvedev exposes wests plot to control sovereign nations …you tube
all just rubbish of course everyone’s known since they were in grade 3 who’s who .and it’s not believable that they don’t understand corporate law of course they all do .
true. anyone who doubts that should consider the facts. 1. russia and china voted for genocidal us sanctions against n. kores. 2. russia and china voted for genocidal us sanctions against iran. 3. russia and china voted for the genocidal us/ saudi starvation blockade of yemen. 4. russia and china voted for the bombing and destruction of libya. 5. russia refused to deliver s300 missiles iran had paid for. 6. russia refused to complete nuclear work it was contracted to do.
they are snakes who will always try to do sordid deals with its enemies that involve selling out its friends. russia and china can not be trusted. it’s as simple as that. they did jack sh*t to prevent the gaza genocide. hamas and hezbollah are reforming to continue the struggle. they will do what they need to do without snakes like russia/ china/ arab quisling dictators.
no attack by ussa yet. we do not know what russia, iran and china will do in response but im sure they communicated this to amerikan faggots already
well, if they do nothing, the multi polar word have shrunken by a half sphere, plus a concentration camp genocide the jews, and the medival europe of serfs. the regimes in europe are the same as any old serfdom, killing the slaves in a fallen kings tomb. nowadays its simplier in the hospitals. its something wrong with “science” 😂 can it be greta thunberg’s fault ?
trumpstein listen too much to faggot lindsey graham. do not trust any man with a womans name
i think he listen to much to him self 😂 i think that was funny, kind of what a narcissist do 😂
note in this context the security council’s approval of the trump corporation / netanyahu takeover of the gaza ghetto. a truly imperialist colonialist project that highlights how international principle has degenerated since the collapse of the ussr, certainly since the formation of the united nations. a project so obviously focussed on plunder and neo-slavery by pathologically violent powers, one certain to contribute to further divisions, should have been vetoed.