加勒比哨兵：美国对委内瑞拉的外交政策.docxVIP

Introduction provide an answer to this question, this stra- “I know nothing about it. I think the govern- ment has nothing to do with it at all, and I have to find out what happened. If we ever did any- thing with Venezuela, it wouldn’t be that way. It would be slightly different. It would be called an invasion”1. These are President Trump’s words delivered in a Fox News interview regarding the failed Venezuelan incursion of May 3rd 2020, in which two former United States (US) army personnel were arrested. The provocative claim that if the US govern- ment were to be involved, it would have been through an invasion, highlights the extremely tense relationship between the US and Vene- zuela. Hence, it may be hard to imagine that in the not so distant past, Washington and Caracas were close allies and cooperation blossomed. A turning point in the relations between Washington and Caracas, how- ever, came when Hugo Chávez took office in 1999.2 The deterioration of relations intensi- fied further under the presidency of Nicolás Maduro from 2013 onwards, and in particu- lar since his disputed re-election of May 2018. Thereafter, the US and 58 other states recog- nised Juan Guaidó as the legitimate (interim) President in January 2019. More recently, the strained relationship is expressed through the increased sanctions regime of the US gov- ernment, significantly affecting the economy of the once most prosperous country in Latin America. The ties between the two countries reached a low point earlier this year when Trump indicted Maduro on charges of narco- terrorism.3 Even though US foreign policy primarily affects Venezuela itself, the impact is also felt in neighbouring countries. Amidst the continu- ation of the Venezuelan crisis, the US govern- ment has further tightened its harsh stance tegic alert will address the following issues. Firstly, we wi