Venezuela and the long shadow of U.S. power over Latin America

Alberto Velazquez directs COFOA, supporting organizing in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

“We’ve spent two decades developing grassroots leaders who are improving their communities and learning to govern themselves. These efforts are always at risk when powerful governments decide they can impose ‘solutions’ from above. Democracy only lasts when people build it from the ground up.”

The U.S. Senate has advanced a bipartisan War Powers Resolution that would require congressional approval before further military action in Venezuela – setting up a high stakes vote.

Many Venezuelans welcome the removal of Nicolás Maduro, whose authoritarian rule and corruption caused enormous suffering, while they also worry about what comes next. At the same time, the way this happened — through unilateral U.S. military force and open talk of controlling Venezuela’s government and oil — raises deep concerns across Latin America.

Leaders in Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras know from experience that outside military intervention usually brings instability, displacement, and backlash — not democracy or peace.