U.S.-Venezuela Re-Engagement Begins Days After U.S. Ousts Maduro

Washington last deposed a sitting Latin American head of state in 1989’s ‘Operation Just Cause’ against Manuel Noriega—also justified as an anti-narcotics action. Like earlier interventions in Iran (1953) and Iraq (2003), today’s move intertwines regime change with control of strategic resources—in this case the world’s largest proven oil reserves. The rushed diplomacy signals a shift from kinetic force to economic tutelage: U.S. officials now openly design Venezuela’s oil sector and even its import ledger. Over a century, this echoes the pattern of the U.S. alternating coercion and ‘dollar diplomacy’ to keep hemispheric hydrocarbons in friendly hands. Whether the 2026 talks birth a sovereign partnership or a neo-protectorate will shape regional norms on external intervention long after fossil fuels fade from centrality—potentially defining Latin America’s view of U.S. power well into the late 21st century.