THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT VENEZUELA ISN'T ABOUT VENEZUELA

From May 6, 2019

Quick thoughts on the scene in Caracas.

The Chavista regime of Maduro is repugnant. Without going into how great Venezuela was and how it was ruined by socialism, I will simply request that the reader take judicial notice of that. No one (apart from Rep. Omar and AOC apparently) can take issue with that.

But it is not our job to take down every awful regime in the world. I say this not as a Trumpian isolationist, but as a realist. We don’t have that capability. In the cases where our interests and security are at stake (Iran, North Korea), or where “we broke it” (Syria), or both (Iraq), we do need to leave regime change on the table. Venezuela, however, represents a different class: The Americas.

The first foreign policy principal that this nation followed was laid down by Washington. His warning to stay out of European affairs was well-considered, especially at the time. From his point of view, Europe was embroiled in the Wars of the French Revolution and there was nothing to be gained by getting involved. further, Washington had been driven to despair by the domestic response to the Jay Treaty with Britain, which he accepted only because it preserved the peace. But beyond the immediate world of that day, the United States was simply incapable of hanging with the big boys back then, as the War of 1812 would demonstrate.

But the second principal that was laid down is what became the famous Monroe Doctrine. And while we all know that it was really written by John Quincy Adams, not Monroe, what isn’t as widely known is that no one cared to actually use it enforce a policy until the (second) Cleveland Administration (1893-1897). Even when Phil Sheridan and the Union cavalry was sent from Appomattox to the Mexican border to encourage the French installed Emperor Maximilian to depart, no one thought to invoke the Monroe Doctrine as our justification.

But since we found it useful to cloth our policies in Latin America in the legitimacy of the Doctrine, it has proven useful. Through it we gained the Panama Canal and kept the Communists (mostly) out. And while it can be argued that the heavy hand of the Yanquis did occasionally come down too heavily, I think any honest criticism of American policy towards Central and South America should be more directed at benign neglect than overbearing imperialism. And would the past 150 years been any better for those nations if they were also contending with the heavy hands of Britain, France, Germany, the Soviets, etc..? If anything, the Monroe Doctrine should be credited with keeping the hemisphere remarkably placid during a period when the other half of the world played host to some of mankind’s darkest moments.

So now, apparently, we’re going to throw all of that away. Because one party can’t bring itself to condemn socialism and the other is headed by an isolationist buffoon. And not to deny credit where it’s due, the Obama administration was all too willing to sacrifice Venezuela to his diplomacy-as-public-relations “victory” in Cuba. There’s no way he could have sat next to Castro at that ballgame if he was critical of what was happening in Caracas.

The result of all this short-sighted ignorance is that there are now Russians and Chinese and, of course, Cubans in Venezuela. Forget all that, Hezbollah is in Venezuela. Frigging Hezbollah! And are we demanding that they leave? No, we’re left to consider if we can really do something to assist the uprising, given the presence of those parties. This isn’t the Ukraine, or Gaza or the Spratly Islands. This is Venezuela. A couple hours away, in the same time zone as New York and DC. Rich in oil. With a history that, until the Clown Hugo Chavez came along, could be viewed with pride. That’a all gone now, but perhaps not forever. Maduro will go, and Venezuelans may again prosper. But the “powers” that be in the White House and the Hill can’t see that something important to this nation, something that we can be proud of, is also at risk. And once the Monroe Doctrine is ignored without consequences, it may not recover as easily.