Trumpist neocolonialism targets strategic territories for the USA

The voracity of US imperialism, driven by Donald Trump, goes far beyond the recent illegal attacks against Venezuela. The attacks on the country and recent statements by the Republican have turned on the red light for other nations inside and outside Latin America.

Trump’s neocolonialist strategy aims to expand, in an aggressive and authoritarian manner, the American presence in territories of its interest, with an eye especially on the natural riches of these territories — with emphasis on oil and strategic minerals —, as well as a geopolitical repositioning that expands American power and hegemony, which includes the overthrow of governments aligned to the left and the establishment of others subservient to Washington.

It is, therefore, a question of spreading the political and economic power of the USA, bypassing the sovereignty of countries and international treaties.

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These elements place on the Trumpist radar, in addition to Venezuela, countries such as Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Brazil, as well as Greenland, among others. In the wake of the illegal intervention against Venezuela, Trump wasted no time and turned his “spinner gun” to other nations.

This Sunday (4), he said that an operation against Colombia “sounds good” to him. “Colombia is also very sick, governed by a sick man, who likes to produce cocaine and sell it to the United States — and will not continue doing so for a long time”, he added, adopting his usual shallow and childish speech, purposely lowered in order to establish successful communication at the level of his followers.

Afterwards, when asked if he would invest militarily against the country, he stated: “(that) sounds good to me”. To justify his intention to attack Colombia, Trump has accused, without evidence, President Gustavo Petro of links to drug trafficking, following the same script he used with Nicolás Maduro as a way of justifying armed intervention in the country.

In response, the Colombian Foreign Ministry classified the threats as “unacceptable interference” and asked for “respect” for the country and its president.

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Via social media, Petro also said: “I vehemently reject Trump’s statements based on ignorance. My name has not appeared in any judicial record of drug trafficking for 50 years, neither in the past nor in the present. Stop defaming me, Mr. Trump. This is not how you threaten a Latin American president who emerged from the armed struggle and, later, from the struggle for peace of the Colombian people.”

In a long message in which he also talks about the American people’s struggles for democracy throughout history, the Colombian president also highlighted: “I have learned not to be a slave and I reject your statements that unilaterally subject us to your rule. We, Latin Americans, are republicans and independent, and many of us are revolutionaries. Do not think that Latin America is just a nest of criminals, poisoning its people. Respect us and read our history.”

Mexico and Greenland

Trump also took the opportunity to attack Mexico. In the same vein, he declared that “something needs to be done about Mexico” and that the drug cartels are “very strong and govern the country”.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, in turn, reiterated that the country is willing to collaborate in the fight against trafficking, but without subordination. And he stressed that “the most important thing is also shared responsibility. That is, we prevent and address insecurity and violence in Mexico. And we prevent drugs from coming to America. And they must also prevent weapons from coming to Mexico. And combat the very organized crime that operates in the United States.”

The US president also took advantage of the attacks on Venezuela to, once again, threaten Greenland, which has been the Republican’s target since the beginning of his term. This Sunday (4), Trump once again expressed his intention to annex the territory, which is autonomous and linked to Denmark. “We really need Greenland. For our defense”, he said in an interview with The Atlantic magazine.

In response via social media, the Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens Frederik Nielsen, was incisive: “Enough is enough!”. And he added: “No more pressure. No more insinuations. No more annexation fantasies. We are open to dialogue. We are open to discussions. But this must be done through the appropriate channels and with respect for international law.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen also reacted, stating that the US “has absolutely no right to annex Greenland” and that it should stop making threats “against a historic ally and against a country and people that have already made it clear that they are not for sale”.