With former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro awaiting trial in federal custody in New York City on narco-terrorism charges and U.S. President Donald Trump vowing that the United States will run the country until there is a “proper transition,” the world is witnessing the sharpest manifestation yet of a generational U.S. foreign policy shift which has been taking shape since Trump returned to the White House last year.
Under the “Trump Corollary” to President James Monroe’s 1823 policy that declared the Western Hemisphere a distinct sphere of U.S. influence, removing Maduro from office and seizing control of Venezuela’s oil resources are among the latest and greatest geopolitical maneuvers as part of a renewed focus on affairs closer to America’s shores, most notably and immediately in the Caribbean Basin.
