Overview of Code Switch — Venezuela and the long tradition of US interference
This episode of NPR’s Code Switch (host Gene Demby) combines frontline reporting from NPR immigration correspondent Jasmine Gars and historical analysis from Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Greg Grandin to explain the immediate events surrounding the U.S. capture and Manhattan indictment of Nicolás Maduro and to situate those events within a long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America.
What happened (reporting from the courthouse and protests)
- NPR reporter Jasmine Gars was on assignment at the Southern District of New York after texts reported Caracas under attack and that Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been captured by U.S. forces.
- In a short but dramatic court appearance, Maduro (wearing a prison uniform) insisted he is the legitimate president and described himself as a prisoner of war kidnapped by the U.S. Flores appeared injured; lawyers requested medical attention, alleging injuries sustained during the U.S. operation.
- Outside the courthouse a large, emotionally charged crowd split between:
- Protesters denouncing U.S. intervention and demanding Venezuelan sovereignty.
- Venezuelan exiles and opponents of Maduro celebrating the capture and thanking U.S. forces and U.S. political figures (some explicitly expressing support for Trump).
- Jasmine emphasizes the crowd was a microcosm of polarized public displays; many Venezuelans she’s spoken with privately express a complex mix of relief, fear, mourning and unease that rarely makes headlines.
Historical context and expert analysis (Greg Grandin)
- Why Venezuela matters: Venezuela holds about one-fifth of proven global oil reserves. Economic collapse (post-2013 oil price crash), sanctions, and authoritarian consolidation under Maduro produced mass migration—about 8 million people have fled.
- Trigger for the raid: The Trump administration justified the operation by citing electoral illegitimacy, drug and migration threats, and oil. Grandin argues these justifications mix pragmatic and ideological motives; the raid functioned as a demonstration of power rather than a necessity.
- Longer sweep of U.S.–Latin America relations:
- U.S. interventions in the hemisphere are longstanding—Maduro’s capture is not an unprecedented form of action in the region.
- The modern legal notion of national sovereignty, Grandin argues, was articulated by Latin American actors after independence (and institutionalized in 1933 at the Montevideo conference), partly as a response to U.S. expansionism.
- Despite formal acceptance of sovereignty, the U.S. historically used covert operations, economic pressure, and regional institutions to exert influence.
- The Trump era:
- Grandin says recent U.S. policy has jettisoned multilateral restraint: the administration’s National Security Strategy and messaging resurrect a bellicose Monroe Doctrine—treating the hemisphere as U.S. dominion.
- He sees a collapse of the foreign/domestic line: aggressive external raids (Venezuela) paired with punitive interior immigration enforcement (raids on Venezuelan migrant communities in U.S. cities; visa changes facilitating deportations).
- He criticizes the selective application of sovereignty and humanitarian rhetoric—pointing out historical inconsistencies in U.S. treatment of refugees depending on geopolitical alignment.
Key takeaways and themes
- The episode blends immediate, on-the-ground reporting with structural historical analysis: the Maduro capture is best understood as both a dramatic current event and part of a century-long pattern of U.S. hemispheric intervention.
- Sovereignty is a contested concept: while Latin America helped define modern sovereignty, power politics and U.S. hegemony have often undermined it.
- U.S. actions are driven by a mix of ideological signaling and material interests (oil, migration control), and recent policy shifts show a more unilateral, demonstrative use of force.
- Media coverage tends to highlight polarized public reactions; many affected Venezuelans hold more nuanced, complex feelings that deserve attention.
Notable quotes from the episode
- Maduro in court: “I am a man of God,” and he described himself as a “prisoner of war” kidnapped by the U.S.
- Courtroom heckler: “Vas a pagar por lo que le hiciste al pueblo venezolano” — “You will pay for what you’ve done to the Venezuelan people.”
- Greg Grandin: the modern international idea of sovereignty “came from Latin America” and criticizes the Trump-era framing as turning the Monroe Doctrine into “a property deed to the Western Hemisphere.”
Suggested next steps / further reading
- Read Greg Grandin’s books for deeper historical context: Empire’s Workshop and America America: A New History of the New World.
- Follow NPR Code Switch or subscribe to their newsletter for updates and more reporting that combines lived experience with historical context.
Produced and edited by the Code Switch team (episode producers and engineers credited in the original transcript).