Coming Home to Roost - Venezuela, Colonial Boomerangs, and Liberal Revisionism

When asked about his thoughts on JFK’s assassination, Malcolm X responded with the phrase “the chickens come home to roost.” Malcolm, writing during America’s imperialist scramble over the newly decolonized nations, criticized the belief that America could impart political violence abroad without expecting any consequences closer to home.

American naivete, if not outright arrogance, has led to the perpetuation of Western imperialism to our day. Consistently, America undermines any possibility of democratic rule that attempts to subvert its material hegemony. However, as Malcolm noted, American foreign policy also affects governance within its borders. Consistent interference abroad has eroded the democratic legitimacy of domestic politics, culminating in the rise of Trumpist fascism.

Venezuela has been a prime example of American imperialism. Since Hugo Chavez’s left-populist 1998 election led to the nationalisation of Venezuelan oil, the US has repeatedly attempted to undermine the nation’s sovereignty. For instance, in 2002, Washington would back a failed opposition-led coup whose participants included the venerated Maria Corina Machado.

In the next decade, Obama would continue the work of his conservative predecessor by attempting to overthrow Maduro’s new Chavista government. During the latter’s election, Obama would support Henrique Capriles’ 2013 baseless accusations of electoral fraud. After his claims were revealed as empty, the American president would turn to installing economic sanctions against top Venezuelan officials, citing claims of human rights abuses.

Due to the sanctions’ weak legal basis, Obama would invoke a state of emergency. It was clear that Venezuela posed no threat to any Americans, and Obama’s interest in saving the Venezuelan people was as genuine as Bush administration’s interest in saving Iraqis. Regardless, the ex-president would have to lie about Venezuela as an “extraordinary threat” to justify his attempt to undermine the socialist government.

Trump’s undemocratic violation of Venezuelan sovereignty, during his first term, directly built off Obama’s presidency. In 2017, he would drastically increase Obama’s sanctions, essentially choking out the Venezuelan people until they would conflate Chavismo with suffering. In 2019, Washington would throw their cards behind Juan Guaidó in yet another blatant coup attempt, leveling further sanctions in order to break down the Venezuelan government. Each of these attempts used America’s economic dominance to manipulate foreign governments, continuing the trail that Obama had helped blaze.

Trump and Obama’s foreign policies are not irrelevant to their domestic governance. The state of emergency used in Obama’s 2015 sanctions, a concept crucial to Hitler’s rise and in the thought of Nazi-jurist Carl Schmitt, is a pivotal technology to help the sovereign dictator dissolve any checks and balances. Throughout his second term, Trump has utilised this concept to slowly assert his own dictatorship, whether it be in deploying national guards to opposition cities or waging war against fictitious internal enemies. By arbitrarily declaring an emergency, Obama eroded fundamental democratic principles, demonstrating to Trump the ease of establishing a dictatorship.

In addition to constitutional defilement, liberals creating a world order around their state’s privatized, corporate interests (e.g. Venezuelan oil) has played a role in the unstoppability of Trump’s fascism. America’s international dominance has demonstrated that there is no power beyond its borders that can hold its policies accountable. By contributing to a world order predicated on profit and not the well-being of citizens, Obama has ensured that international and human rights institutions, which are excellent at subverting governments against imperial interests, are impotent in preventing the growing atrocities within American borders.

It would be Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, who would fully reveal that the American state has no power to obey, whether it be other states or its own people. Biden’s blanket support for the Palestinian genocide has revealed the futility of the United Nations to prevent American actions. His presidency also completely disregarded the International Court of Justice, unveiling international courts as disposable pawns of Western hegemony. At the popular level, the Palestinian genocide has given rise to one of the largest mass movements in recent American history. Yet the size of the movement, and its failure to prevent the genocide, has also shown that the power of the American government can easily disregard the will of the people.

Criticising liberal hypocrisy does not necessitate an ultraleftist dismissal of electoral politics; rather, it demands an understanding of international policy as not isolated from the domestic sphere. Liberals cannot pick and choose when to violate constitutional principles. Outside of its borders, constructing democracy in America requires genuine international economic and political collaboration with other nations. Reinstating the DNC after four years will not, as was the case after Bush’s presidency, repair democracy – instead, it will only result in its further decay.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/United Press International

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