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Max Blumenthal
THE GRAYZONE
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Sep 9, 2025 #TheGrayzone
The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal is joined by Oscar Leon and Venezuelan analyst to discuss the role of corporate-friendly US aligned governments in Latin America in the ongoing government change operation against Caracas.
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Summary
The video transcript explores the complex geopolitical dynamics at play in Latin America, with a focus on the involvement of U.S.-aligned actors seeking to influence the region’s political landscape. It begins with an account of figures like NOBOa, linked to Israeli and U.S. power structures, alongside mercenary operatives such as Eric Prince, illustrating the fusion of private military forces with government agendas tied to the Trump administration. The discussion situates Ecuador’s recent political history, from Rafael Correa to Lenin Moreno and Guillermo Lasso, as part of a broader regional realignment shaped by lawfare and external interference that undermines leftist, independent governments. Bolivia and Argentina are cited as additional examples of political repression and government change campaigns reminiscent of the historical Operation Condor, now termed Operation Condor 2.0, orchestrated by U.S.-backed forces to suppress progressive governments.
Senator Marco Rubio’s strategic activities in the region are analyzed as part of a greater effort to isolate Venezuela and consolidate right-wing allied governments using a framework that treats Latin America as a critical zone for U.S. economic and political reassertion. The transcript highlights the urgency with which these actions are pursued, given changing domestic U.S. political realities and vulnerabilities. Key regional organizations and alliances, including the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the legacy of UNASUR, are referenced as battlegrounds for influence, with the U.S. attempting to fragment these efforts.
The conversation also underscores the historic South-South integration efforts led by left-leaning leaders like Rafael Correa, Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, and Muammar Gaddafi, which aimed to create alternative financial and political structures independent of Western influence. These efforts have faced systematic dismantling by Pentagon and CIA-led initiatives. However, the rise of Brazil’s involvement in BRICS and renewed regional actors have injected some resilience into this multipolar vision. The discourse concludes by framing Rubio’s recent engagements as an opportunistic push by Miami’s political elites to decisively weaken leftist governments before potential changes in U.S. leadership or health dynamics of key figures reduce their leverage in Latin America.
Key Insights
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️♂️ Interplay of State and Parastatal Forces in U.S. Strategy: The involvement of private security companies like Eric Prince’s Academy reveals a shift towards deniable, flexible military engagements in Latin America. This blurring of official and unofficial means denotes an adaptive U.S. strategy to circumvent diplomatic limitations and engage covertly in government change or stability operations. Such tactics provide Washington with plausible deniability while maintaining pressure on targeted governments like Venezuela’s Maduro administration.
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️ Erosion of Sovereignty Through Lawfare and Political Interference: The transcript outlines how leftist leaders such as Rafael Correa and Cristina Kirchner faced “lawfare” — politically motivated legal prosecutions designed to delegitimize and remove them from power. This phenomenon signals a new non-military method of influence which undermines democratic norms and reasserts external control, effectively reducing Latin American countries to client states or “proconsuls” of U.S. interests rather than independent actors.
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Repetitive Cycle of Regime Change Echoing Operation Condor: Operation Condor of the 1970s and ’80s was a coordinated CIA-backed campaign of repression against left-wing governments in South America. The current regional interventions are seen as a 2.0 version, adapted to the twenty-first century with lawfare, propaganda, and covert operations replacing overt military dictatorships. The continuity of pattern reflects persistence of hegemonic dominance tactics despite evolved modalities.
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Regional Organizations as Political Battlegrounds: CELAC and UNASUR historically represented efforts to integrate Latin America economically and politically without U.S. hegemony. The fragmentation and exclusion of certain countries in key forums demonstrate how U.S. allies seek to disrupt these platforms to maintain hemispheric dominance. The exclusion of Paraguay, Ecuador, and Argentina from the recent CELAC meeting exemplifies this wedge policy meant to isolate Venezuela and its allies.
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Geoeconomic Strategy of Capital Repatriation and Industrial Relocation: There is an explicit reference to U.S. strategic goals around bringing capital and manufacturing back to the Western Hemisphere amid globalization challenges. Latin America’s labor market flexibility and tax incentives are envisioned as key assets in this strategy. This suggests that controlling the region politically also serves direct economic interests in securing favorable conditions for U.S. corporations and industries.
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Timing and Political Opportunism in U.S. Policy: The transcript stresses the urgent timing behind Rubio’s current mission, tied to the perceived fragility of Donald Trump’s health and political future. This reflects how U.S. domestic political calculations heavily influence foreign policy, with Miami-based hardline elites seeking to exploit windows of opportunity to reverse gains made by the left across Latin America before potential shifts occur in Washington.
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Multipolar Resistance through BRICS and South-South Cooperation: Despite heavy U.S. pressure, the presence of Brazil in BRICS and efforts at south-south alliances for banking and development continue to offer a counterweight to U.S. hegemony. These efforts maintain hope for Latin America’s political and economic autonomy, hinting at a future where the region might resist becoming simply a U.S. backyard and contribute to a more multipolar international order.
This comprehensive synthesis underlines the renewed geopolitical struggle over Latin America as a critical site where global power dynamics, economic strategies, and ideological battles converge, shaped by both historical legacies and contemporary international realignments.
The Grayzone
Sep 9, 2025 #TheGrayzone
The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal and Oscar Leon are joined by Venezuelan analyst Diego Sequera to discuss the role of US economic warfare on Caracas in the rise of the Tren De Aragua cartel.
Summary
The video discusses the United States’ evolving strategy to destabilize the Venezuelan government, shifting from idealistic “color revolutions” to a more security-focused approach that frames Venezuela’s ruling government as a criminal enterprise involved in drug trafficking and money laundering. This paradigm shift, occurring around 2020, reframed the conflict from a democratic promotion to a counter-narcotics and anti-terrorism campaign. The narrative highlights the use of criminal organizations such as Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles, linking them to the Venezuelan government and Nicolás Maduro, despite significant evidence that these groups operate independently or have been largely dismantled.
The discussion reveals how migration issues exacerbated by U.S. sanctions and regional policies have contributed to the growth of criminal organizations controlling territories and extorting migrants, intensifying social and political chaos. Venezuelan migration saw a surge, particularly between 2015 and 2020, with many migrants fleeing through harsh routes like the Darien Gap, which eventually became a bargaining chip in U.S.–Venezuela negotiations. The U.S. migration policies—including Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted in 2021—faced criticism for inadvertently facilitating criminal elements entering the U.S., who were then subject to harsh criminalization.
Key figures include Tulsi Gabbard, whose role in reshaping intelligence assessments about Venezuela’s gangs within the Trump administration is highlighted as politicizing and suppressing dissenting intelligence for justifying harsher U.S. measures, including deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. The re-emergence of stories about the Cartel de los Soles is traced back historically to the 1990s, shaped by U.S. intelligence narratives and often exaggerated or unsubstantiated in their connection to Maduro’s government.
The video critiques U.S. interventionism, comparing the current narrative against Maduro to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama that ousted Manuel Noriega, a former CIA ally turned accused drug trafficker. The drug trafficking routes presented show that most cocaine flows through Pacific routes in Ecuador and Colombia rather than Venezuela, undermining claims that Venezuela is the key drug transit point. Ultimately, the video frames U.S. policy as a deliberate “controlled demolition” of Venezuela’s economy to weaken its society politically and militarily.
Key Insights
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Paradigm Shift from Politics to Security: The transition from framing Venezuela as a problem of democracy to a “security threat” marked a significant strategic pivot by the U.S. government, reflecting disillusionment with the effectiveness of government-change efforts. This shift legitimized harsher sanctions and military posturing under the guise of fighting drug trafficking and organized crime, signaling a securitization of foreign policy that dehumanizes political opponents by labeling them criminals and narco-terrorists. This trend reflects broader global patterns of conflating political dissent with criminality.
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Criminal Organizations Exploit Economic Collapse: The rise and adaptation of groups like Tren de Aragua, evolving from local gangs into multi-faceted criminal enterprises controlling labor unions, kidnappings, and protection rackets, illustrate how state failure and economic collapse create fertile ground for criminalization. These groups filled voids left by state withdrawal, exacerbated by sanction-induced shortages and social disintegration. This dynamic complicates the conflict, blurring lines between political opposition and criminality.
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Migration as a Weapon and Humanitarian Crisis: The mass exodus of Venezuelans—promoted and exploited by regional governments encouraging migration for political gains—became a destabilizing factor across Latin America. The migrant crisis, worsened during COVID-19, became central in U.S.–Venezuelan negotiations, with imprisoned migrants and deportations used as leverage. This underscores migration’s politicization and the human toll of geopolitical conflict.
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️♂️ Manipulation of Intelligence Processes: The role of Tulsi Gabbard in dismissing intelligence contradicting a direct link between Nicolás Maduro and criminal gangs illustrates how political agendas can override professional intelligence assessments. Replacing dissenting experts and disseminating politicized intelligence enabled justification for expanded interventionist policies and harsher treatment of Venezuelan migrants, highlighting dangers of politicizing intelligence for government change.
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Cartel de los Soles as a Construct: The historical overview of the “Cartel de los Soles” shows it is a fluid concept, unevenly documented and often used as a tool by U.S. officials to demonize Venezuela’s government. Its origins in the 1990s involved complex relationships between Venezuelan officials and U.S. agencies that blurred the lines between cooperation, complicity, and combatting drug trafficking. Over time, this narrative was weaponized according to political needs, often lacking concrete evidence linking Maduro personally to drug trafficking.
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Misleading Drug Trafficking Geography Underpins Intervention: The data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime shows cocaine transit primarily follows the Pacific corridor through Ecuador and Colombia, not Venezuela. This contradicts popular U.S. narratives that justify military and political action against Venezuela on drug trafficking grounds. Understanding these routes is vital for debunking propaganda and refocusing policy toward realistic threat assessments.
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❗ Controlled Demolition of Venezuela’s Economy: The U.S. openly acknowledged a strategy of economic warfare aimed at destroying Venezuela’s economy and society to depose Maduro. The resulting collapse intensified migration, empowered criminal groups, and contributed to widespread suffering. This approach reflects a harsh realpolitik view that prioritizes government change over humanitarian concerns, causing long-term social damage and regional instability.
Conclusion
The video offers a critical re-examination of the U.S. campaign against Venezuela, exposing how political narratives of democracy promotion and anti-drug war rhetoric have evolved into securitized, criminalizing discourses. This transformation justified increasingly aggressive policy measures that worsened Venezuelan social conditions and regional stability. The narrative around criminal groups like Tren de Aragua and the Cartel de los Soles is shown to be leveraged mostly for political purposes rather than grounded in solid evidence. Coupled with flawed intelligence manipulation and a humanitarian migration crisis, these dynamics reveal a complex web of interventionism shaped by economic sanctions, regional geopolitics, and long-standing Cold War-style strategies. Understanding these layers is essential to evaluate current policies and to advocate for more humane and evidence-based approaches to the Venezuelan situation.
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