Venezuela’s economic and political situation is dire. Government mismanagement and a collapse of oil export revenues in 2014 created a devastating economic crisis, causing a sixty-six percent drop in GDP and a mass exodus of over ten percent of the population [1]. Food, water, and power shortages are frequent, with the price of many groceries skyrocketing by several thousand percent in the last year alone [2]. The country also faces political strain; Nicolás Maduro, the incumbent president of Venezuela, held an illegitimate election last year, which prompted the National Assembly to declare a constitutional crisis and appoint Juan Guaidó as temporary president [3]. The power struggle still hasn’t been resolved, with both Guaidó and Maduro claiming the title of president. However, despite the continuing severity of the situation, the United States should resist the urge to intervene on Venezuela’s behalf.
We have seen this story before. In 1953, President Eisenhower authorized “Operation PBSUCCESS” to topple the Guatemalan government. This was partly in response to pressure from the U.S.-based United Fruit Company (UFC), which felt that its monopoly on the Guatemalan banana trade was being threatened by the recent shifts towards democracy in Guatemala [4]. Ten years later, “Operation Brother Sam” was President Kennedy’s strategy to destabilize the left-leaning Brazilian government and “prevent Brazil from becoming another China or Cuba” [5]. After the fall of their respective governments, Guatemala experienced almost four decades of civil war, and a right-wing military dictatorship ruled Brazil for almost twenty years.
Time after time, U.S. efforts of regime change in Latin America have only led to disaster. What’s worse is that the rationale behind these initiatives is usually questionable at best. In the case of Venezuela, several rationales for intervening may be at play. First, similar to the case of the UFC in Guatemala, there may be business interests eyeing Venezuela’s oil reserves as a potential strategic asset. This kind of opportunistic thinking clearly does not justify the risk of throwing Venezuela into endless war or tyrannical rule. Second, the Monroe Doctrine may be another rationale for intervention in Latin America, as suggested by recent remarks from former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Reminiscing of President Kennedy’s comments on Brazil in the 1970s, Bolton said, “We must all reject the forces of communism and socialism in this hemisphere” [6]. But who are we to dictate to another country what system it must espouse? The weight of this question is underscored by the fact that the U.S.-backed regimes have almost always committed offenses far worse than those of the toppled government.
Even humanitarian justifications for political or military intervention in Venezuela must be weighed with great care. Because of our history in the region, it’s reasonable to assume that any intervention, no matter how well-intentioned, has a significant chance of only making things worse for Venezuelans. One example of this is seen in the U.S attempt to relieve Chile’s economic crisis in 1973 by assisting in a coup d'état of then-President Salvador Allende. This led directly to the bloody seventeen-year military rule of dictator Augusto Pinochet, whose regime is suspected of killing or imprisoning thousands of civilians [7]. No one would consider it an act of charity to “rescue” an orphan from a neglectful group home, only to hand him over to abusive foster parents.
The risk of perpetuating needless suffering, human rights abuses, and violence is too great to justify U.S. intervention in Venezuela. That is not to say that there is nothing anyone can do. There are several ways the U.S can use policy to directly or indirectly influence the situation without military or political intervention:
Direct approaches
- Act diplomatically as a mediator to bring Maduro and Guaidó to the negotiating table [8]
- Make it easier for Venezuelan refugees to come to the U.S.
Indirect approaches
- Have prominent political figures use their platforms to encourage private and social sector humanitarian aid for Venezuela
- Allow the United Nations to take the lead on dealing with the humanitarian crisis
Any of these approaches would allow for U.S. cooperation in alleviating Venezuela’s dire situation, while at the same time limiting its ability to make rash interventionist moves like the ones that have been so catastrophic in the past.
The “white savior complex” plagues many Western societies today, and it seems to appear in international affairs as well. One of its core symptoms is that the urge to swoop in and solve the problems of so-called developing countries often only serves the interests of the people that are supposed to be helping. The paternalistic solutions that result either (at worst) undermine the true interests of the “beneficiary” communities, or (at best) fail to adequately take those interests into account. This disempowers these communities and furthers counterproductive narratives depicting them as helpless and Westerners as their rescuers. Now is the time for the U.S. to prove to the world that it cares more about human lives than about ideology, business, or playing the role of savior. If it really wants to help Venezuelans, it will learn from the past and know that intervening in Venezuela will only add fuel to the fire.
Sources:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/world/americas/venezuela-water.html
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-exports-insight/in-hungry-venezuela-food-producers-step-up-exports-to-survive-idUSKBN1X215M
- https://politicalreview.byu.edu/2019/03/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-maduro-guaido-and-venezuela/
- Schlesinger, Stephen, and Stephen Kinzer. 1982. Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=2ahUKEwjnhc_0lNblAhVHvZ4KHbvUDp0QFjAIegQIAxAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnsarchive.gwu.edu%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fpages%2F2014_annual_report.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0mlvO8SS1dW2qwXYpknmA9
- https://observer.com/2019/04/john-bolton-monroe-doctrine-sanctions-venezuela-nicaragua-cuba/
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1222764.stm
- https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2019-02-06/commentary-what-the-us-can-do-to-help-venezuela