FOR the past several days, political turmoil has gripped the South American country of Venezuela, as opposition politician Juan Guaido has declared himself president, posing a direct challenge to incumbent Nicolas Maduro. Mr Maduro is, of course, the successor of the country’s late leftist president Hugo Chavez. However, this internal power struggle has been making headlines globally as the US has waded in, backing Mr Guaido and calling for regime change in Caracas. On Saturday, Washington and Moscow sparred over the Venezuela crisis in the UNSC; US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned what he termed as the “mafia state” of President Maduro while backing the toppling of his regime. Russia’s representative shot back, saying that the US was trying to engineer a coup in the Latin American state. Unfortunately, considering America’s history of backing dictators and undemocratic regimes across the world, the US should have adopted a more tactful approach, instead of meddling in a sovereign country’s affairs. While democratic forces should be supported everywhere, when a country has so much historical baggage as the US does, it is best to play a more diplomatic role and let independent nations solve their own problems. But as we have seen thus far, Team Trump is not a big believer in subtle diplomacy and statesmanship.

A brief overview of the international politics of the last century or so shows that more often than not, the US — which ironically has complained of Russian ‘meddling’ in its own polls — has sided with decidedly unseemly (and downright brutal) strongmen the world over. In Latin America, it long supported the Batista dictatorship in Cuba before Fidel Castro and his comrades sent it packing, while it also backed the cruel Pinochet regime in Chile that had overthrown the elected Allende government. Closer to home, the Americans played a crucial role in the British-backed removal of the Mosaddegh dispensation in Iran, while Washington was a strong backer of the Shah’s dictatorial rule before the ayatollahs proclaimed an Islamic Republic. And during the Cold War, as Moscow backed socialist Arab strongmen, America propped up kings and princelings to prevent the spread of communism in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Therefore, the US should think twice about lecturing others on democracy, and particularly about interfering in others’ internal affairs. Let the people of Venezuela decide their own fate; external powers should not be meddling in their domestic affairs.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2019