Donald Trump revives gunboat diplomacy with Venezuela attack
Washington’s military deployment and removal of Nicolas Maduro echoes centuries of armed intervention by the US in Latin America.
Protesters rally outside the White House after the US attack on Venezuela. AP
Michael Stott
From plotting to kill Cuba’s communist leader Fidel Castro with a poisoned milkshake to staging a CIA-backed coup against Guatemala’s elected government, the US has made many attempts to reshape its “backyard” – often with unintended consequences.
US President Donald Trump’s deployment of a large military force off Venezuela to unseat revolutionary socialist leader Nicolas Maduro has reawakened memories of America’s history of “gunboat diplomacy” in the region.
