Trump's Threats to Venezuela Recall CIA's Record of Supporting Latin American Coups

Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (left) welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger upon his arrival at the presidential office in Santiago, Chile, in 1976. (Washington Post).

In recent months, U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, stating that the days of President Nicolás Maduro are numbered, amid an increase of U.S. forces in the region.

Trump claimed that Maduro and his top security officials lead a drug trafficking organization, the Cartel de los Soles, which sends drugs and violent criminals to the United States. The administration's threats suggest the possibility of direct U.S. military action in the country, evoking the troubled legacy of CIA-backed regime change in Latin America, according to a Washington Post report.

Below are some prominent examples of U.S. intervention in Latin America:

Guatemala

A CIA-backed coup in Guatemala overthrew the leftist elected president Jacobo Árbenz in 1954. The operation, called PBSUCCESS, aimed to remove the "danger of the current communist-controlled Guatemalan government," combining psychological warfare, economic, diplomatic, and paramilitary measures, according to a declassified CIA staff analysis.

Árbenz's land reforms, which included expropriating and redistributing uncultivated parts of large estates with compensation, threatened the interests of the Boston-based United Fruit Company, which owned extensive banana plantations in the country. In response, the company launched a campaign against Árbenz, and the U.S. government later portrayed the country as a communist stronghold under Moscow's influence.

According to a CIA document, the agency trained a rebel group led by Guatemalan General Carlos Castillo Armas in Honduras. Separately, the CIA planned sabotage teams to attack communists and their properties. Psychological warfare tactics included sending coffins, nooses, and fake bombs to communists, according to the document.

On June 16, 1954, CIA-backed forces led by Armas entered Guatemala while American agents simultaneously tried to persuade the army to dismiss Árbenz. Although this attempt failed, momentum shifted on June 25, according to a separate CIA memo, when Castillo's forces repelled a counterattack and later bombed a fortress in Guatemala City. A U.S.-backed pressure campaign soon forced Árbenz to resign, after which he fled to Mexico with "more than 120 government or communist officials," according to the CIA.

The CIA also considered assassinating Guatemalan leaders, reviewed a list of 58 targets, and trained some armed men for this task, but the killings were not carried out.

Castillo ultimately seized power, and Guatemala suffered under repressive military regimes before descending into a civil war in 1960 that lasted 36 years, with the indigenous Maya population bearing the brunt of the losses.

Ecuador

On July 11, 1963, the Ecuadorian army overthrew leftist President Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy in a U.S.-backed coup to push Ecuador to sever diplomatic ties with Cuba.

Former CIA officer Philip Agee told the Washington Post in 1974: "President Arosemena did not want to cut relations, but we forced him to. We promoted the communist issue, especially communist infiltration in the government."

Agee, who was responsible for these groups in Ecuador, said the CIA worked closely with an international network of labor unions that served as effective tools for political influence in Latin America.

In his book "Inside the Company: CIA Diary," he detailed the tactics used by the CIA in the country, including infiltrating key government branches such as intelligence agencies and building relationships with prominent opposition figures.

Agee wrote that the CIA published anti-communist propaganda in the media, fabricated materials to discredit revolutionary groups, planned police crackdowns, and used stink bombs to disrupt meetings. A military council took power after Arosemena delivered an anti-American speech while intoxicated at a banquet, as detailed in a CIA cable.

The military council declared martial law, banned the Ecuadorian Communist Party, restricted civil liberties, and suppressed leftist activities, especially in education.

Brazil

In March 1964, the Brazilian army overthrew leftist President João Goulart, who had promised a series of reforms, including nationalizing foreign-owned oil refineries and confiscating some agricultural lands.

Days before the coup, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Lincoln Gordon wrote in a cable to the State Department: "If we are to use our influence to help avoid a major disaster here, this is where I and all senior advisers believe we should give our support." The cable also mentioned U.S. "covert support" for street protests and encouragement of anti-communist sentiment throughout society.

The U.S. government prepared a public support plan called "Operation Brother Sam," which included deploying naval forces off the Brazilian coast and arranging fuel and ammunition deliveries if the Brazilian army requested assistance. The coup happened quickly, and these resources were ultimately not used.

The military dictatorship lasted 21 years under five generals, characterized by widespread arrests, torture, and disappearances among union leaders, political activists, and opposition figures.

Chile

U.S. covert operations influenced all major elections in Chile between 1963 and 1973, with the 1964 election being the most notable example of intense intervention, according to a congressional report.

Washington actively worked to undermine leftist candidate Salvador Allende by supporting Eduardo Frei Montalva of the Christian Democratic Party, who was elected president in September that year.

In that election alone, the CIA spent $3 million—equivalent to $31 million today—to influence the outcome, according to the report.

More than half of Frei's campaign was funded by the U.S., some through untraceable secret payments, according to the congressional report. As part of a "fear campaign" launched in local media, the CIA distributed images of Soviet tanks and Cuban execution squads, according to the report. Another project sought to weaken Chile's largest communist labor union.

Some concerns about Allende were also related to Chile's largest export: copper. A National Security memo from March 1964 stated: "If Allende wins and remains in power, we will be in trouble. For example, he is likely to nationalize the copper mines." At that time, subsidiaries of two American companies were responsible for most of Chile's copper production.