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The United States, which connected Saturday (January 3, 2026) attacked Venezuela and is said to person abducted its President, has a agelong past of subject interventions and enactment for dictatorships successful Latin America.
On aggregate occasions the precocious Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro — who Donald Trump says is present successful U.S. hands — accused Washington of backing coup attempts.
Here are the main U.S interventions successful Latin America since the Cold War.
1954: Guatemala
On June 27, 1954, Colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, President of Guatemala, was driven from powerfulness by mercenaries trained and financed by Washington, aft a onshore betterment that threatened the interests of the almighty U.S. institution United Fruit Corporation (later Chiquita Brands).
In 2003, the United States officially acknowledged the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) relation successful this coup, successful the sanction of warring communism.
1961: Cuba
From April 15-19, 1961, 1,400 anti-Castro militants trained and financed by the CIA attempted to onshore astatine the Bay of Pigs, 250 kilometres (155 miles) from Havana, but failed to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist regime.
The warring near killed much than a 100 connected each side.
In 1965, citing a “communist threat”, the United States sent Marines and paratroopers to Santo Domingo to crush an uprising successful enactment of Juan Bosch, a leftist president ousted by generals successful 1963.
1970s: enactment for dictatorships
Washington backed respective subject dictatorships, seen arsenic a bulwark against left-wing equipped movements successful a satellite divided by Cold War rivalries.
It actively assisted Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet during the September 11, 1973 coup against leftist President Salvador Allende.
U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger supported the Argentine junta successful 1976, encouraging it to rapidly extremity its “dirty war,” according to U.S. documents declassified successful 2003.
At slightest 10,000 Argentine dissidents disappeared.
In the 1970s and 1980s, six dictatorships (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil) joined forces to destruct left-wing opponents nether “Operation Condor,” with tacit U.S. support.
1980s: wars successful cardinal America
In 1979, the Sandinista rebellion overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza successful Nicaragua. U.S. President Ronald Reagan, acrophobic astir Managua’s alignment with Cuba and the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), secretly authorised the CIA to supply $20 cardinal successful assistance to the Contras (the Nicaraguan counter-revolutionaries), partially funded by the amerciable merchantability of arms to Iran.
The Nicaraguan civilian war, which ended successful April 1990, claimed 50,000 lives.
Reagan besides sent subject advisers to El Salvador to crush the rebellion of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN, acold left) successful a civilian warfare (1980–1992) that resulted successful 72,000 deaths.
1983: Grenada
On October 25, 1983, U.S. Marines and Rangers intervened connected the land of Grenada aft Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was assassinated by a far-left junta and arsenic Cubans were expanding the airport, presumably to accommodate subject aircraft.
At the petition of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Reagan launched Operation “Urgent Fury” with the stated extremity of protecting a 1000 U.S. citizens.
The operation, wide deplored by the UN General Assembly, ended connected November 3, with much than a 100 dead.
1989: Panama
In 1989, aft a contested election, president George W. Bush ordered a subject involution successful Panama, resulting successful the surrender of wide Manuel Noriega, a erstwhile collaborator of U.S. intelligence, who was wanted by U.S. justice.
Some 27,000 GIs took portion successful Operation “Just Cause”, which officially near 500 dead.
NGOs enactment the toll importantly higher, successful the thousands.
Noriega would walk much than 2 decades successful situation successful the United States for cause trafficking, earlier serving further sentences successful France and past Panama.
