Accused by the U.S. of turning one of Washington’s former friends into a narco-state, a dictator of a Caribbean basin country clings to power. Sanctions cripple his economy and immiserate his people, but, defiantly, he amps up anti-imperialist rhetoric, jails, beats, or kills political opponents, and steals elections. Aided by Cuban intelligence, he bats aside coup attempts and mobilizes a new militia. And yet in back channels he talks with the U.S. about possibly stepping down in return for immunity from prosecution.
Meanwhile, the U.S. president, impatient to end the crisis but not sure how, sends intimidating military assets into the dictator’s neighborhood, raising the prospect of direct intervention as November turns into December. . . .
That’s a fair summary of the current standoff between President Donald Trump and Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro. But it also describes events preceding the U.S. invasion of Panama on December 20, 1989—the last time this country used force to topple a hostile regime in Latin America.
