“Pushing back against this agenda is not only the right thing to do by those currently feeling the effects of it, but a question of what direction the wider world takes.”
By Ben Hayes
So far, international relations in the 2020s have been defined by chaos and destruction. With struggles for economic and military influence more and more breaking out into outright warfare, any pretence of a “rules-based order” increasingly seems a thing of the past. From the particularly brutal example of the Middle East, to the war in Ukraine (as well as a wider drive for an increasingly militarised Europe), and increasing tensions around East Asia, there are no
shortage of examples of this trend playing out across the world- and the situation in Latin America is not only not an exception, but in many ways at the heart of the battle.
Of course, US administrations carrying out interventions (both overt and covert) in what President Monroe regarded as its ‘backyard’ is nothing new- indeed, it is a tradition that has continued across Presidencies of both major parties. Nixon’s backing for the coup against Allende in Chile, Reagan’s firm support for the Contras (who he praised as “the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers”), and Obama and Clinton throwing their weight behind the removal of the elected President of Honduras in 2009 are a fairly small sample of a long and bloody history (one that has taken on a renewed importance since the wave of left-leaning governments seeking greater regional integration elected in the early stages of the 21st century).
Donald Trump’s leadership has unapologetically embraced the underlying logic of this, largely dispensing with claims to be motivated by concern for democracy and human rights: with the President last December publicly declaring that, when it came to the resources of Venezuela: “we want our oil back!” At this point, the mask is not so much slipping as it is being tossed aside like a frisbee.
The case of Venezuela has been a particularly shameless example of this ‘might is right’ approach in action. Trump’s first term in office saw a significant escalation of US sanctions against the country, culminating in the farcical spectacle of recognising Juan Guaido’s government (despite the thorny issue of it not in fact existing). This year began with a military operation which not only killed an estimated 80 people but kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, who are currently awaiting trial in the US on charges of “narco terrorism” (whilst the programme of threats towards the acting government continues in the aftermath of devastating earthquakes this summer).
This has been accompanied by a further intensification of aggression towards the longest–standing US target in the region, as even the very limited measures towards easing the more than 60 year old blockade of Cuba taken under Biden were deemed unacceptable. The strategy of ‘maximum pressure’ has included various measures towards ensuring a total blockage of fuel supplies, with Trump vowing to “finish the job” in Cuba after launching the bombing campaign against Iran and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth declaring that “all options are on the table” when questioned about potential military action. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made little secret of ‘regime change’ on the island being a political goal more important to him than any other.
Nicaragua has also found itself in the crosshairs once again, with the 2018 NICA Act having ushered in a new era of economic warfare- with estimates suggesting that the legislation cost it around $1.5 billion within the first 3 years of being implemented. Recent measures have involved targeting the country’s gold sector, and State Department officials have suggested that it also comes under the category of countries where “all options are on the table”.
As well as countries being lined up for some form of overthrow, there are also several examples of places demonstrating the model that the Trump alliance wishes to roll out across the region. President Javier Milei in Argentina has perhaps been the most high-profile example: even being heralded as “MAGA all the way” by the man himself and infamously appearing alongside Elon Musk at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he wielded his “chainsaw of bureaucracy”. Within the first two years of taking office, he had introduced cuts of around 27% to public services as a whole (with departments including the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversities being scrapped altogether)- boasting that not even the military junta of 1976-83 was able to match this record.
The government of Daniel Noboa in Ecuador has not only embraced the austerity agenda (cutting over $1 billion in 2024 from healthcare services in 2024 alone), but paved the way for a heavily militarised society. Last month saw the passing of legislation allowing the military to join the police in “permanent joint operations” without the need for a state of emergency to be declared, and alignment with the US has accelerated to the extent that the FBI now has its own permanent office in the country. In relation to a wave of protests from environmental and indigenous organisations, the Alliance for Human Rights in Ecuador have reported that the state’s response has led to 296 injuries and 2 deaths.
Next month also represents an opportunity to get one of the most influential governments in the region back on track from the Trump project’s perspective, as Brazilians head to the polls. Incumbent President Lula da Silva’s main challenge comes from Flávio Bolsonaro, son of his predecessor Jair (currently serving a sentence for his role in an attempted coup following the 2022 election).
In this period of increasingly unrestricted levels of interference, it is all the more important that international solidarity remains on the labour movement’s list of priorities- with the tradition represented by workers at Rolls-Royce in Fife who refused to service engines used by the Pinochet regime being of particular significance here in Britain. The campaign over Venezuelan gold reserves worth billions being held by the Bank of England continues, and the country’s historic role in legitimising US foreign policy gives initiatives here a particular significance. Ultimately, pushing back against this agenda is not only the right thing to do by those currently feeling the effects of it, but a question of what direction the wider world takes.
- Ben Hayes is an Arise Festival volunteer and a regular contributor to Labour Outlook.
- The Red Weekly Column will appear each week on Labour Outlook from one of our regular socialist contributors.
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