Trump's 4,500 troops can topple Nicols Maduro--not fix Venezuela
The US troops could dislodge the government in Caracas, but it won’t be enough to police a country ringed by drug cartels and insurgents.
Praveen Swami
03 September, 2025 08:00 am IST
The contest was not, most might agree, a fair fight. Eight-inch guns trained toward the walls of the Puerto Cabridis fort, the German naval ship SMS Vineta had brought an impressive fleet with it: The Falke, Gazelle, Panther, Charlotte, Stosch, and Restaurador, as well as the British Navy’s HMS Retribution and HMS Quail. The Venezuelan navy—“a few antiquated old tubs crewed by men who were more fishermen than sailors,” historian Nancy Mitchell records—soon surrendered. Two seized ships had to be scuttled, since they were too decrepit to be towed up the Orinoco River to the sea and on to Curaçao.
Leaving for home on 9 December 1902, the ships lobbed a few shells at Puerto Cabello. The Germans shelled Fort San Carlos de Maracaibo twice, since the guns of Panther jammed the first time—but the Venezuelan soldiers had by then evacuated the citadel, and no losses to life were caused.
This week, US President Donald Trump dispatched a somewhat more serious naval force into the waters off Venezuela. The fleet is reported to contain at least three guided-missile destroyers, as well as some 4,500 troops trained in amphibious operations. To many in the region, it seems like Trump is preparing to bring down the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, on whose head the United States has announced a bounty of $50 million.
Even though the stated mission of the naval fleet is counter-narcotics, the real message hasn’t been missed by anyone. Large Chinese investments are being made in Venezuela’s oil fields, which hold the world’s largest proven reserves. Following on from his earlier threats to take over the Panama Canal and his offer to commit United States troops to Mexico, Trump is letting it be known he intends for America to regain hegemonic power over the Western Hemisphere.
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https://theprint.in/opinion/trump-4500-troops-nicolas-maduro-venezuela/2734522/
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Attack on Richard Nixon's motorcade
Attack on the motorcade of US Vice President Richard Nixon in Caracas, Venezuela while he was visiting in 1958
On May 13, 1958, US vice president Richard Nixon's motorcade was attacked by a mob in Caracas, Venezuela, during Nixon's goodwill tour of South America. The event was described at the time as the "most violent attack ever perpetrated on a high American official while on foreign soil." Close to being killed while a couple of his aides were injured in the melee, Nixon ended up unharmed and his entourage managed to reach the US Embassy.
Wikipedia
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1958/05/14/US-fighting-men-sent-to-Nixons-protection-in-Venezuela/6951526143409/
U.S. fighting men sent to Nixon's protection in Venezuela
By United Press International
CARACAS, Venezuela -- More than 1,000 U.S. paratroops and Marines converged on the Caribbean today ready if needed to rescue Vice President Richard M. Nixon from any assassination attempts in mob-ridden Venezuela.
Nixon and his wife Pat were scheduled to leave the sanctuary of the U.S. embassy after midnight tonight to fly home.
Mobs swarmed through the streets during the night, smashing windows and shrieking anti-American slogans. Police armed with jungle knives as well as clubs and pistols strove to restore order.
The Nixons, who narrowly escaped death or injury at the hands of the mobs Tuesday, spent the night at the U.S. embassy in Caracas under the protection of a heavy cordon of police.
Troops Ordered to Area
President Eisenhower ordered troops into the Caribbean area and instructed Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to tell the Venezuelans to take "every possible measure" to safeguard the Vice President's life.
Venezuelan authorities blamed the mob outbreak on "tramps and miscreants linked with the regime of (ousted ex-President Marcos) Perez Jimenez."
Rear Adm. Wolfgang Larrazabal, chief of the military junta which replaced Perez in January, said "several" such persons have been arrested.