Donald Trump asserts control over Venezuela—and all the Americas
But the president’s claim of dominance over the western hemisphere may backfire
he action, in the form of American forces’ lightning raid to capture Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s strongman president, was over days ago. Yet Caracas, the capital, remains braced for upheaval. Tanks and armoured vehicles guard the road from the main airport to the city. Soldiers in ski masks sit atop them, waiting for further incursions that will probably never take place. Gangs of colectivos, armed pro-regime vigilantes on motorbikes, roam the streets or set up roadblocks, searching cars and hassling drivers. The rumour is that they were dispatched by Diosdado Cabello, the menacing interior minister, as a message to the population that there is no power vacuum, the regime’s decapitation notwithstanding.
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VenezuelaGeopoliticsDonald TrumpBriefingUnited StatesThe Americas