"On the same day thirty-six years apart, U.S. forces seized a deeply unpopular, Latin American dictator and brought him to the United States to face drug charges. In 1990, soldiers sent by President George H.W. Bush detained Panamanian President Manuel Noriega. On Saturday, it was troops sent by President Trump who captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. In both instances, analysts said the United States was using force to secure strategic assets in the Western hemisphere, namely the Panama Canal and Venezuela's oil fields."
"Despite some similarities, analysts and former diplomats also see big differences between the interventions in Panama and Venezuela and worry about where the latter could be headed. Panama is widely seen as a bright spot in a history of U.S. operations in Latin America that have included CIA-backed coups in Guatemala and Chile. John Feeley, a career diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Panama during the second Obama administration, said the U.S. invasion in 1989 had a positive impact on the country."
U.S. forces detained Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, drawing comparisons to the 1989 U.S. operation that removed Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. Analysts say both actions aimed to secure strategic assets in the Western hemisphere, notably the Panama Canal then and Venezuela's oil fields now. President Trump said the U.S. would sell Venezuelan oil and declared the United States would "run" Venezuela temporarily pending a "safe, proper and judicious transition." Observers note major differences: Panama had a ready political opposition and U.S. forces already present, while concerns persist about outcomes and stability in Venezuela.
Read at www.npr.org
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