President Trump took another dramatic step earlier this morning toward bringing America “back,” to use one of his favorite words, when U.S. forces captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro. He was taken in handcuffs to the USS Iwo Jima for safe passage to New York and a trial on charges brought against him in 2020.
I can’t help but feel great pride that America has retaken its rightful place in the world, making thugs accountable for their crimes against human decency.
What is less clear is what happens to Venezuela now. In a press conference from Mar-a-Lago this morning, Trump said the U.S. would be “running” the country until a stable regime could be in place.
He also said — and herein lies the rub — that U.S. oil companies would resume control of refineries and oil production in the country. He painted this as benefiting the Venezuelan people.
As for who will rule the country going forward, besides himself and his team, Trump dismissed Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, as she lacks “the support” of the Venezuelan people to run the country.
This may have come off as a bold and stunning statement, but I have long suspected — and wrote about it earlier — that Trump’s interest in Venezuela stems from Machado’s having won the Peace Prize and not him.
Kind of, “I’ll show them” type of response to the committee’s selection.
Still, I am more than elated today that America is back and can exercise its power flawlessly. Throughout my life, scenes of failure have flashed across the evening news — the fall of Saigon, the failure of an American rescue mission in Iran, Reagan’s withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, and the spectacular scene of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. There are probably some other mighty U.S. failures that I’ve forgotten. Let them all rest in peace.
As for the question of where we got the right to take over a country and arrest its leader, look no further than the Monroe Doctrine, which Trump himself referenced this morning.
The 1823 declaration by President James Monroe states: “We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers [in Europe and Russia] to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.”
Amen to those words, and hallelujah that we’re finally living up to them.
