"Last month, the United States sent Navy ships to the Venezuelan coastline, invoking war powers for an anti-drug mission that would normally be a routine job of the U.S. Coast Guard. The extraordinary move left me with a nagging sense of déjà vu. A little while later, I understood why. I'd interviewed the leader of Venezuela's opposition movement, María Corina Machado, a few months earlier."
"By winter, that flame had dimmed. Donald Trump had returned to the White House with little interest in Venezuela beyond deporting its people from the United States. Two weeks after the inauguration, I asked Machado on a video call what she hoped the guiding principle of the new administration's Venezuela policy would be. "Law enforcement," she replied. The conversation was in Spanish, but she said those words in English, as if they were an American talking point."
The United States dispatched Navy ships to the Venezuelan coast, invoking war powers for an anti-drug mission typically handled by the U.S. Coast Guard. María Corina Machado, leader of Venezuela's opposition movement, had earlier said she would welcome a scenario resembling the naval deployment. Machado was barred from running in 2024; observers credited her surrogate with a majority of votes, but Nicolás Maduro refused to cede power. Machado proclaimed the regime in its "terminal phase" and worked to sustain popular hope. After Donald Trump's return to the White House, U.S. focus on Venezuela shifted toward deportations and law-enforcement framing.
Read at The Atlantic
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