It is easy to predict what will happen in Venezuela. We saw this play before and it is called Communist Cuba. The United States failed to act quickly and wisely in the case of Cuba. Fidel Castro did fool everybody in the United States because he hid his friendship with the soviets until it was too late. In short order we had a communist state at only 90 miles from our coast. And then, when it was still possible to save the island, Kennedy failed to help the counterrevolutionaries who invaded Cuba expecting air cover from the United States. The U.S. president just wanted to keep U.S. involvement secret. Those are facts, and Cubans who escaped from Fidel Castro’s paradise still remember with bitterness the lack of support for the more than 1000 men who were captured. Fidel sent them back to Miami in exchange for 50 thousand dollars. In January of 2019 Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly declared himself president of Venezuela, challenging the Maduro regime and receiving the support of many countries. Venezuela ended up with two presidents, but Maduro has received the support of the army, a decisive factor that almost guarantees that he will remain power. In spite of calls for action coming from all over the world, Nicolas Maduro has not resigned and in fact, with the support of Putin, he might overcome this challenge to his leadership.
Guaido expected Venezuelans would rise and march to support him forcing Maduro to resign, but the demonstrations lasted only a few days and Guaido has been unable to get the support of the military. And speaking of Putin, he is being a lot more aggressive than the old Soviet masters during the Cold War. That is one reason to be more concerned because Trump’s response has been weak. Political experts see the recent Russian actions as a direct challenge to the United States, not unlike the missiles that brought the USSR and the United States to the brink of war in Cuba. But they believe Trump has no intention of intervening in Venezuela militarily, and his attitude towards Putin might encourage the Russian strong man to become even more aggressive. Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Gil, returning from a visit to Moscow, announced that Russia could soon expand its military presence in Venezuela. “New missions will probably arrive” to reinforce the contingent of 100 soldiers that arrived in March. He said they Russians will be there “for as long as they are needed.” But Donald Trump, who seems unable to decide on a Secretary of Defense at this crucial juncture, while claiming to make this country stronger, has not taken steps to challenge Putin’s advances in Venezuela. It is easy and painful to predict that the next big crisis for this word will be brought by a confrontation on Venezuelan soil when the next president of the United States decides that the Monroe Doctrine is not dead. Let’s hope it is not too late by then.
Editorial
Noticias Newswire
