The rapid developments in Venezuela following a US military operation and the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro have caused global unrest.
A BBC analysis explains what the US strike signifies, noting that supporters of the intervention claim it could pave the way for Venezuela’s opposition to take power.
However, many analysts argue the situation will not be so straightforward, citing the role of the military and the risk of further destabilisation.
According to the BBC, Venezuela’s armed forces and paramilitary groups remain loyal to Maduro. Even some of his critics feared that direct US intervention could worsen the country’s instability.
The British broadcaster notes that the United States has not carried out such a direct intervention in the region since 1989, when it invaded Panama to remove the then-military leader, Manuel Noriega.
Historical context: 1989
In December 1989, US President George H. W. Bush ordered the invasion of Panama to arrest dictator Manuel Noriega, a former US intelligence agent accused of drug trafficking.
That operation marked the previous US military intervention in Latin America prior to the early-morning attack on Venezuela, in which President Maduro was arrested to face US justice.
Approximately 27,000 US troops, including 13,000 stationed in Panama, participated in “Operation Just Cause,” which officially resulted in at least 500 deaths, though NGO estimates suggested several thousand casualties.
On 20 December 1989, US forces took control of the streets of Panama City. After seeking refuge at the Vatican embassy for two weeks, Noriega surrendered on 3 January 1990.
Two years before his arrest, Noriega claimed that the US had placed a bounty on him after he refused to cooperate with Washington’s plans to invade Nicaragua.
He was sentenced by a Florida court to 40 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering, with the possibility of halving the sentence for good behaviour. Noriega spent 17 years in US prisons and 18 months in a French prison before being extradited to Panama.
The former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega (1983–1989) died in 2017 at the age of 83.