Trump's doctrine on Maduro and Petro

The so-called ‘Trump Doctrine’, which, in short, builds a strategy with the aim of putting Nicolás Maduro, dictator of Venezuela, and Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, in US prisons, has led the aforementioned leaders, de facto and de jure, respectively, to express, the former, his complete secrecy, and the latter to express his rejection by instructing the return, in a so-called consultation, of the Colombian ambassador accredited to the United States Government. 

It is clear that Trump has long since crossed out the two South American leaders, linking them to criminal associations that Washington considers intolerable because they are linked to drug trafficking.

Although we could distinguish between the two cases, since Petro, who is not my favourite, is a leader elected by the Colombian people, it seems that, for the White House, the latter is irrelevant. Maduro and Petro are fully aware that Trump could go further than they may have believed or calculated.

The two cases are different: Maduro retains power in Venezuela after committing electoral fraud, while Petro has confronted Washington to the point of calling for disobedience by the US military, that is, against the orders of President Trump himself, doing so without any qualms on US soil (New York).

In recent weeks, the possibility of an imminent invasion of Venezuela by US commandos has become increasingly real, given that Washington sees Maduro as the head of a drug cartel, according to Trump's own doctrine. Petro is described in a similar way, except that he is a leader who has power by the grace of the will of the people, whether we like it or not.

The only reality is that the important relationship between the United States and Colombia, enhanced by the so-called Plan Colombia, was not preserved by Petro, who has ended up confronting the most powerful country in the world in a sign of complete disintelligence.

In less than a year, Petro will leave power, so I do not think Trump wants to go all out in his case. In Maduro's case, however, I still believe that Washington has already pointed the finger at the Llanos dictator and is just waiting for the right moment to go after one of the few dictators still in power in Latin America.

Maduro and Petro are likely to lose sleep after seeing themselves portrayed in prison uniforms. When those in power want to act, there is nothing to stop them, and it seems that the aforementioned leaders have failed to grasp this. We will see what happens.

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Mackay, former Foreign Minister of Peru and internationalist

Article published in the Peruvian newspaper Expreso