The Head of U.S. Southern Command is in Venezuela to Advance Trump’s Neocolonial Agenda - Left Voice
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Several weeks after the United States bombed Venezuela and kidnapped Maduro, the country’s regime is hosting U.S. military leaders. This marks further consolidation of Venezuela’s subordination to U.S. imperialism.

This Wednesday, February 18, the head of the United States Southern Command arrived in Venezuela. General Francis Donovan came just six weeks after the bombing of Caracas and other parts of the country and the kidnapping of Maduro and Cilia Flores. He declared that he was there to oversee Donald Trump’s imperialist plan.

This is the first trip by a U.S. military delegation since the military attacks. The visit by the head of Southern Command comes four days after Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s tour of Venezuela, where he visited oil fields and held official meetings. It also comes just weeks after the CIA was established in the country and the U.S. embassy in Caracas was reopened. Even Donald Trump has announced that he will be visiting Venezuela. We are witnessing decisive steps in the consolidation of a neocolonial system that seeks to impose political control through a protectorate, subjecting our sovereignty and strategic resources to the direct control of Washington.

“The discussions focused on the security environment, steps to ensure the implementation of President Donald Trump’s three-phase plan—particularly the stabilization of Venezuela—and the importance of shared security throughout the Western Hemisphere,” stated Southern Command in a post on X. That’s how directly they communicated it. Completely different from how the Minister of Communications tried to present it: “The meeting reaffirms that diplomacy must be the mechanism to resolve differences and address issues of bilateral and regional interest,” stated Miguel Ángel Pérez, also on his X account. The U.S. Embassy was categorical in its objective: “Meeting with the interim authorities to… ensure the implementation of the three-phase plan of @POTUS (President of the United States – Donald Trump) and advance the goal of a Venezuela aligned with the United States ” they emphasized in a post on the same social network.

Otro día histórico en el que dimos la bienvenida al comandante del @SOUTHCOM, el general Donovan, a Venezuela. En Caracas, el General Donovan comenzó reuniéndose con su equipo de miembros del servicio de la Fuerza Conjunta, una vez más vigilando las instalaciones de la embajada… pic.twitter.com/mjkWmfUlOd

— Embajada de los EE.UU., Venezuela (@usembassyve) February 18, 2026

Therefore, the head of Southern Command did not come to “resolve differences”; he came to reinforce the agenda the United States has imposed on Venezuela. This is also why Donovan—the top U.S. military official for Latin America—arrived accompanied by the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Security Affairs, Joseph M. Humire. After overseeing his embassy staff and the U.S. military personnel stationed there, he formally met with the government of Delcy Rodríguez, in the presence of Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

For years, the official discourse was built on a supposed anti-imperialism and the assertion of national sovereignty. Today, however, the person serving as the highest executive authority, Delcy Rodríguez, receives at Miraflores Palace the military chief of the power that bombed the country weeks ago. The contrast is significant: from anti-imperialist rhetoric to the practical management of agreements with the very same leaders who militarily intervened in Venezuela. Along the same lines, one can speak of Vladimir Padrino López and Diosdado Cabello, two leaders who sat at the top of the military and political apparatuses and imposed the politics of the ruling party.

However, faced with foreign intervention, these leaders have completely submitted. They receive representatives of U.S. imperialism in their offices to coordinate the “security” that will guarantee the transition to Trump’s protectorate. The same people who yesterday railed against imperialism are today hosting the Yankee generals.

The arrival of General Donovan marks the beginning of a profound political transformation of the country, a shift from a neocolonial status: the transition from open political and military aggression to the normalization of subordination, political control, and rhetoric about “hemispheric security.” It is the United States that makes the fundamental decisions regarding Venezuela. This is why Trump aims to reorganize the Venezuelan state apparatus within the framework of imposing a protectorate on the country.

The role played by the current Venezuelan government in this reconfiguration is central. These meetings symbolize the “transition” from direct military intervention to a phase of economic and political control. The neocolonial offensive driven by the United States seeks to transform Venezuela into a strategic enclave subordinated to the interests of imperialist capital and to advance the imposition of a protectorate that responds to the need to reaffirm U.S. influence in a region historically considered its area of ​​geopolitical domination, its backyard.

Therefore, this sends a clear message to the region as part of their hemispheric control plan. That is why we must oppose this imperialist plan, not only from Venezuela but from across the continent, especially now that they are attacking Cuba. To achieve this, unity with the workers, youth, women, and immigrants who are mobilizing against Trump within the United States itself is essential.

This article was first published in Spanish on February 19 in La Izquierda Diario – Venezuela.

The post The Head of U.S. Southern Command is in Venezuela to Advance Trump’s Neocolonial Agenda appeared first on Left Voice.

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