The return of the Monroe Doctrine

Other forms of US military pressure against Venezuela preceded and ran in tandem with Maduro’s ouster under Operation Ultimate Resolve. There were two main components. One was a series of attacks to destroy so-called ‘go fast boats’, high-powered speed boats navigating in international waters in the Caribbean and in the Pacific and allegedly used for transporting drugs. According to the official narrative these boats were, and still are, being used by transnational criminal groups for the purposes of drug and people trafficking into the US. Many of these criminal groups had earlier been designated by the Trump administration as foreign terrorist organisations (FTOs). Part of the administration’s rationale for capturing Maduro was the claim that he was directly involved in FTO activities threatening US interests. The US Navy also seized several Venezuelan oil tankers for allegedly violating long-standing US-imposed oil sanctions. US officials, including the president, said that revenue from sanctioned oil sales would be controlled by the US government.