THE RETURN OF JAMES MONROE
The now historic tension between the United States and Venezuela has seen Washington's aggressive stance intensify in recent days, even if—when all is said and done—this appears to be more of a grand psyop. The United States has always opposed Chávez's Bolivarian Revolution, but since Maduro took over, US pressure has become much stronger. Countless coup attempts, support for figures bordering on the ridiculous, such as Guaidó—who proclaimed himself interim president before disappearing into the darkness from which he emerged—have led to accusations of being a drug trafficker, or rather, of being the head of the Cartel de los Soles. Quite fittingly, in recent weeks, the bounty on Maduro has been raised to $50 million (as if it were the Wild West), and a secret executive order has been approved that equates drug cartels with terrorist organizations, making it possible to take action against them with armed forces.
The issue, however, beyond the specific Venezuelan issue, must be seen in a much broader context. Latin America, at least since the proclamation of the so-called Monroe Doctrine—affirmed by President James Monroe in 1823—has always considered the American subcontinent its backyard. Behind the slogan "America for the Americans," in fact, the doctrine essentially aimed to guarantee US hegemony in the Western Hemisphere; the primary intent was to eliminate European influence, adopting a sovereignist-populist propaganda language, but the ultimate goal was precisely to replace the Europeans, and by "Americans," it actually meant North Americans.
This US domination of Latin America essentially lasted throughout the twentieth century, characterized by ruthless dictatorships, massacres of indigenous populations, and the complete right of plunder by American multinationals.
A true symbol of this historical period was the Escuela de las Américas, established in Panama in 1946, where nearly all South American military personnel were trained. Names like Videla, Ríos Mont, and Pinochet tragically marked the continent's history and are rightfully inscribed in the book of infamy. This domination encountered its first setback in the late 1950s, with the Cuban Revolution—which Washington, despite the Caribbean island posing no threat, has never forgiven. And then, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, it saw the rise of revolutionary and guerrilla movements almost everywhere. All were bloodily repressed by former cadets of the Escuela.
Between the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, US control over the subcontinent gradually loosened, or at least took on less violent forms, making way for the emergence of representative democracies—more or less effectively so.
What is happening today, however, must be seen within the broader, radical shift in the global geopolitical context. While that phase of softening of control corresponded to the golden age of US unipolar dominance following the fall of the USSR, and found its explanation in this, the current level of global competition, and the myriad challenges facing the United States, requires a very significant retreat and redeployment.
Washington, in fact, must grapple with the economic and industrial unsustainability of its global overextension. To prepare for significant expansion into the Indo-Pacific, where it must seek to counter and contain China's growth, it is forced, on the one hand, to substantially withdraw from Europe, and on the other, to stringently reassert control over its own backyard, where, moreover, the penetration capacity of its enemies has grown in recent decades: China, Russia, and Iran, in particular.
In recent years, tiny Cuba has been joined by Nicaragua—very close to Moscow—Colombia, and, indeed, Venezuela. Meanwhile, countries like Brazil (a founding member of the BRICS) and Mexico have assumed an increasingly independent posture from North American influence. In this context, China has shown strong commercial penetration, especially towards the Pacific Rim countries, while Russia and Iran have developed strong relations with these countries, Venezuela in particular.
Several factors make Caracas the primary target, in a sense the leverage point to undermine any form of resistance to US hegemony in the subcontinent. First, for ideological reasons: the Bolivarian Revolution, essentially socialist, is seen as a thorn in the side, and constitutes a dangerous hotbed of infection for all of Latin America; and, above all, It makes it easier to portray it as a dictatorship, thus justifying the US's destabilizing and subversive actions.
But of course, there are other factors as well. The fact that Venezuela is considered the country with the richest oil deposits in the world, for one. But also the fact that it is neither too small nor too large, and that it has a segment of the population—heirs to the comprador bourgeoisie that for years lived off oil and ensured the dominance of multinationals—that still hopes to overthrow Bolivarian socialism and return to power.
All of this makes Venezuela a prime target. US pressure, therefore, is exerted primarily on this country, identified as the main obstacle to the resumption of ironclad hegemonic control over the entirety of South America. And it sets short- and medium-term objectives.
Obviously, Washington's first aim is to try to sever—or at least reduce—relations between Caracas, Moscow, and Tehran. Interestingly, some Western media outlets have recently discussed the possibility that Russia might deploy its Oreshnik missiles in the Caribbean country. It seems fairly clear that this is a psyop operation by Western intelligence, given that it's extremely unlikely that Moscow—especially at a time when bilateral relations with Washington are reopening—would decide to deploy one of its best weapons (which it likely doesn't have in large quantities) to defend Caracas, risking a new missile crisis like the one in Cuba in 1962. Far more credible, and interesting, is the hypothesis advanced by some Russian military blogs, which wonder what the effect of supplying Geran drones to Venezuela would be. However, this remains unlikely, in my opinion—while the supply of Iranian Shahid technology (on which the Russians subsequently developed the Geran) would be far more likely.
Secondly, the target is oil. At the beginning of the year, Trump imposed secondary tariffs of 25% on countries purchasing oil from Caracas. But, mind you, he did not place any restrictions on purchases by US companies. In fact, last month he granted Chevron a six-month license to restart oil production and exports in Venezuela, revoking a previous ban [1]. The measure serves, on the one hand, to limit Venezuelan exports to China, and on the other, to offer Maduro a carrot while the stick is being waved.
And with that, we come to the present day. On August 14, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the deployment of US naval and air forces to the Caribbean Sea, with the official mission of countering international drug trafficking. According to media reports (including the British agency Reuters), three US destroyers—USS Gravely, USS Jason Dunham, and USS Sampson—were headed toward international waters off Venezuela. A week later, Reuters reported that the United States had ordered the deployment of an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean Sea. The designated ships were the USS San Antonio, the USS Iwo Jima, and the USS Fort Lauderdale. This group reportedly carried 4,000 marines. In short, a seemingly very significant threat. So much so that the Venezuelan government decided, as a countermove, to mobilize the Bolivarian National Militia, composed of 4.5 million men and women.
But what does this saber rattling actually mean?
The group of three destroyers, it turned out [2], was never sent to the Caribbean. A cross-referencing of official US Navy data, deployment reports, and satellite tracking data revealed that:
– The USS Sampson is currently in the eastern Pacific Ocean, over 3,500 kilometers from Venezuela.
– The USS Jason Dunham is inactive at Mayport Naval Base, Florida, where it returned after a deployment in the Red Sea against the Houthis.
– Only the USS Gravely is actually operating in the region, but in the Gulf of Mexico, supporting the US Coast Guard in routine counternarcotics operations.
Furthermore, it was noted that all three ships mentioned belong to the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM), while Venezuela falls under the jurisdiction of the Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).
That left the Iwo Jima (IWO) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG). However, USNI News (U.S. Naval Institute) [3] reports that the IWO-ARG group was forced to return to the naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, on August 19 to avoid Hurricane Erin. This, moreover, brought to light a further element. The official mission of the IWO-ARG, in fact, was to head towards North Carolina to embark the Marines of the 22nd Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune. There are 203 nautical miles between Norfolk and Camp Lejeune, which a ship like the USS Iwo Jima can cover in less than 12 hours at cruising speed. But the ships remained at sea for almost five full days, without even approaching Venezuela [4].
In short, it all appears to be a pressure maneuver on the Venezuelan government, skillfully orchestrated between the State Department and the Pentagon, with Reuters acting as a mouthpiece. But since the devil makes the pot but the lid doesn't make the lid, it didn't take long for it to emerge that there was in fact no real naval deployment near the coasts of the Bolivarian Republic.
To complete the picture, we need to add a few more elements. Obviously, if this evidence was discovered by independent journalists (unlike Reuters...), it doesn't take much to understand that the Venezuelan government must have been perfectly aware of it. If, therefore, it has decided to take the threat seriously, it is essentially for political reasons, exactly the same as those for which the US administration staged this charade. And indeed, this has served to push the governments of Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Iran, Russia, and China to warn Washington against any military initiative.
On the other hand, even if the deployments were authentic, it is obvious that the era of gunboat diplomacy is long over, and the Venezuela of 2025 is not the Japan of 1853. Just as the USS Iwo Jima naval squadron is not the equivalent of Commodore Matthew Perry's black ships [5].
Furthermore, it's quite clear that 4,000 marines (actually about 2,000, with the rest being ship crews) are certainly not a force capable of worrying a country like Venezuela, with 28 million inhabitants and an army that—including active duty and reserves—numbers approximately one million men. Just as it's all too clear that the United States has no intention whatsoever of attacking Caracas militarily, if only for the simple reason of not wanting a conflict in which it must act directly, bringing its own soldiers home in black bags.
Therefore, if the Bolivarian government has decided to mobilize the Bolivarian National Militia, it is first and foremost a political move, intended precisely to mobilize the revolutionary consciousness of the Venezuelan people, and secondly a precautionary measure, in case the US move were instead a precursor to some new coup attempt by the opposition.
In short, the fake US naval deployment is actually a bluff, amplified by those veritable psyops tools that are now the major international news agencies, and there is no imminent landing of Marines on the Venezuelan coast.
Which, however, doesn't mean there isn't some opportunity for a bit of US muscle-flexing, just to try to dot the i's and remind the various South American governments who's really in charge (according to Washington).
But I talk about this in the episode "The 7 Sisters Again" of my podcast Blitz News [6], which I invite you to listen to.
Notes
1 – See “Oil, US reopens to Venezuela: green light for Chevron. But is it aid to Maduro?”, Fabio Lugano, Scenari Economici
2 – See “LaTabla Desmiente a Reuters: Destructores estadoudenses NO se direttin a Venezuela”, La Tabla
3 – See “Iwo Jima ARG Back in Norfolk to Avoid Hurricane Erin”, Heather Mongilio, USNI News
4 – Update: New images confirm that the USS Iwo Jima, flagship of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, has once again left the Norfolk Naval Base, presumably headed for the waters off Venezuela.
5 – See “‘Either you buy or I’ll bomb you’: Commodore Perry before Trump”, Giovanni Punzo,
6 – Blitz News is a podcast that reflects (almost) daily on the most relevant current events, in just five minutes. You can follow the podcast by liking it on Facebook or subscribing to the Giubbe Rosse News YouTube channel.