From Cold War coups to Venezuela: Long shadow of US regime-change playbook endures
Since the end of World War II, the US has interfered in the elections of 81 countries, which range from the forged letters used to discredit Italian Communists in 1948 to the more lethal overthrows of both elected and non-elected leaders
Since the early 20th century, the United States has masterminded coups across the globe, bolstering opposition figures and mutinous militaries to topple leaders whose policies veered away from Washington's interests.
From land redistribution and the strengthening of labour unions to the nationalisation of key industries, any move toward independent economic sovereignty has historically been branded "communist" or "socialist" to justify intervention in the name of American corporate interests, writes The Nation, a US-based journalism outlet.
The report continues stating, while such "hanky-panky" was once shrouded in secrecy — largely because forced regime change violates both the United Nations and the Organization of American States charters — the 1990s saw a shift toward bold transparency.
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Neoconservative thinkers like William Kristol and Robert Kagan openly advocated for the overthrow of Iraq's Saddam Hussein to "ensure America's greatness," a sentiment that later dominated the Bush II era under Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
The Venezuelan flashpoint
Venezuela stands as the latest casualty of this doctrine. Sitting on the world's largest oil reserves — five times those of the US — former president Hugo Chávez and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, chose an independent path.
Despite crippling sanctions by Washington, Caracas continued to export oil to China, India, and Turkey, a defiance the US seems determined to end.
The current administration has deployed warships, missiles, and 15,000 troops to Venezuelan waters. On 11 December, the US seized a Venezuelan oil tanker, following the destruction of 23 boats and the deaths of 87 people.
Today (4 January), Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held in a New York detention centre after President Donald Trump ordered an audacious US raid to capture the South American leader and take control of the country and its vast oil reserves.
As part of the dramatic operation early yesterday (3 January) that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas and included strikes on military installations, US Special Forces seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transported them via helicopter to a US Navy ship offshore before flying them to the US.
"We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump told a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
For months, his administration criticised Maduro, 63, over what it called his involvement in shipping drugs to the US. It ramped up pressure with a massive military build-up in the Caribbean and a series of deadly missile attacks on alleged drug-running boats.
While US officials claim these actions target fentanyl trafficking, no evidence has been provided. By the time a second tanker was seized on 20 December, the fentanyl narrative was largely discarded in favour of "sanction enforcement," as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned, "We will find you and stop you."
A century of cloaks and daggers
The geography of intervention has shifted, but the tactics remain familiar. Since the end of World War II, the US has interfered in the elections of 81 countries, according to political scientist Dov Levin. These interventions range from the forged letters used to discredit Italian Communists in 1948 to the more lethal overthrows of both elected and non-elected leaders.
The human cost of these operations has been staggering. In Indonesia, CIA support for General Suharto's ouster of President Sukarno led to the massacre of up to a million people.
In Brazil, a US-backed military coup in 1964 ushered in a 24-year dictatorship. Similarly, in Chile, the 1973 Pinochet coup — supported by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger — ended the life of democratically elected Salvador Allende and transformed the region's political landscape.
In Argentina, US-backed military juntas "disappeared" at least 30,000 people, often using horrific methods such as throwing dissidents from planes. Through it all, Washington looked the other way, prioritising regional stability and protected markets over human rights.
'Gangsters for capitalism'
This history of intervention was perhaps best summarised by US Marine Corps General Smedley Butler, who famously remarked in 1935 that he had spent his career as a "high-class muscle man for big business" and a "gangster for capitalism".
While modern officials like Dr David Kirk of the American Military University admit that the US continues to "engage in denial and deceptions", the veil of secrecy has thinned. Yet, when questioned on the specifics of current military aid to conflict zones, the Pentagon remains tight-lipped.
As the late Kurt Vonnegut often wrote, "and so it goes"—the machinery of regime change continues to grind, reinventing its justifications for a new century.
