On May 21, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil announced that the U.S. had been authorized to carry out “an evacuation drill ‘in the event of medical emergencies involving catastrophic contingencies, as part of standard diplomatic security and protection protocols’.” Said drill was to take place on May 23, overflight permission had been granted for landing operations to take place at the facilities of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, and the Venezuelan Red Cross would coordinate and participate in the emergency drill. The day before the “drill,” Venezuelans were then told certain roads in the capital would be off-limits while it was taking place.
Come May 23, what happened? The U.S. Embassy announced that this was no “emergency drill,” but “a U.S. military response exercise… Ensuring the military’s rapid response capability is a key component of mission readiness, both here in Venezuela and around the world.” Aboard the two giant USMC MV-22B Ospreys helicopters which flew low over the capital before landing at the Embassy was the Commander of U.S. Southern Command, Gen. Francis Donovan and a contingent of U.S. Marines “that were part of the exercise.” The Embassy specified that the exercise showed that the United States remains committed to ensuring President Trump’s “three-phase plan—particularly the stabilization of Venezuela—and the importance of shared security across the Western Hemisphere.”
The operation came in the context of the stepped-up preparations for the long-threatened U.S. invasion of Cuba, and signs the U.S. is working to mount a military intervention into Bolivia, if possible with “regional” cover.
This crude, imperialist boot-in-your-face message to the government and people of Venezuela provoked the first wave of street protests across various cities by grassroots supporters of the Chavezista project since the invasion to snatch President Maduro and his wife, and with that, Venezuela’s sovereignty. Their slogans included: “Not a colony, nor a Protectorate.” Venezuela, they reminded, is a sovereign nation—not the United States’ 51st state.
