Brooke Anderson: The U.S. has a long history of interventionism in Latin America. Now the Trump Administration is positioning itself for a possible military intervention. What should the demands of the U.S. Left be of our own government in this moment?
Mateo Nube: We need to call for a non-interventionist, non-military path forward. The U.S. Special Envoy to Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, is a horrid man who was at the center of U.S. efforts to crush revolutionary movements in Latin America in the 1980s. So the intents and interests of the U.S. government are clear and cruel. We need to challenge both military intervention and sanctions. We need to support the self-determination of the Venezuelan people. We need to actively oppose the U.S. government’s destabilization offensive in Venezuela.
Uruguay and Mexico are calling for a peaceful, negotiated transition and have articulated a thoughtful path forth. It calls for free and fair elections, which we know cannot happen in a week. The level of chaos induced by both sides trying to delegitimize the other makes that too hard right now. So, they’re saying “Let’s take 10 breaths and figure out what the timeline is on which new elections can happen.”
We can stand against U.S. interventionism while acknowledging that Venezuelans are deeply polarized and that the Maduro government has mismanaged the state and brought its own legitimacy into question. We often denounce U.S. empire building, but don’t criticize the Venezuelan state out of fear it will be used against us. But we are stronger if we stand in our principles and say both. We can hold all of that complexity and we are stronger if we do. That’s my invitation to other leftists.
