So many coups – so little time
Ben Norton created a timeline of recent coups in Latin America
It’s dangerous to be a left-wing leader in Latin America. The US empire and local right-wing oligarchies are always plotting to overthrow you.
A timeline of recent coups in Latin America
2002, Venezuela — briefly successful US-backed right-wing coup against democratically elected President Hugo Chávez (quickly overturned by the Venezuelan people)
2004, Haiti — successful US-backed right-wing coup against democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
2009, Honduras — successful US-backed right-wing military coup against democratically elected left-wing President Manuel Zelaya
2010, Ecuador — unsuccessful violent right-wing coup attempt against democratically elected left-wing President Rafael Correa
2012, Paraguay — successful US-backed right-wing parliamentary coup against democratically elected left-wing President Fernando Lugo
2014, Venezuela — unsuccessful right-wing coup attempt, with violent “guarimba” blockades, against democratically elected left-wing President Nicolás Maduro
2016, Brazil — successful US-backed right-wing parliamentary coup against democratically elected left-wing President Dilma Rousseff
2017, Venezuela — unsuccessful right-wing coup attempt, with violent “guarimba” blockades, against democratically elected left-wing President Nicolás Maduro
2017, Ecuador — successful internal political coup by President Lenín Moreno, who turned on, imprisoned, and exiled his former allies (and betrayed Julian Assange), forming an alliance with the US and right-wing oligarchy
2018, Nicaragua — unsuccessful US-backed violent right-wing coup attempt, with violent “tranque” barricades, against democratically elected left-wing President Daniel Ortega
2018, Brazil — successful right-wing judicial coup with corrupt US-backed judge Sergio Moro imprisoning leading presidential candidate Lula da Silva on false charges, handing the presidency to far-right Jair Bolsonaro (the supreme court later annulled all charges against Lula and he won the 2022 election)
2019, Venezuela — unsuccessful right-wing coup attempt, with the US appointing unelected opposition politician Juan Guaidó as supposed “interim president”
2019, Bolivia — temporarily successful violent US-backed right-wing coup against democratically elected left-wing President Evo Morales (overturned by the Bolivia people after 11 months)
2022, Peru — US-backed right-wing coup against democratically elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo
2023, Colombia — there are warnings of an ongoing right-wing soft coup attempt against Colombia’s first ever, democratically elected left-wing President Gustavo Petro
It is important always ask the question of why this keeps happening;
https://sovereignista.com/2023/05/06/the-why-and-the-what-for-with-thanks-to-our-writer-jef-jelten/
The number of unsuccessful attempts is significant.
There was a time when US intervention meant the death of democracy.
The power is waning.