If it weren’t for the seriousness of the matter, the dialogue would seem like something out of a classic Hollywood script. Jake Tapper, one of the stars of CNN, tells John Bolton, former National Security Advisor to Donald Trump: “You don’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup.” Bolton, boastful: “I disagree. As someone who has helped plan coups, not here but in other countries, I can say that it takes a lot of work.” The exchange between the two, this Tuesday in the program directed and presented by Tapper, has caused a dust storm about the handling of the US in the internal politics of other countries.
John Bolton, former United States ambassador to the United Nations, was interviewed on CNN about the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by a mob of Trump supporters, and the investigation into it by a congressional commission, which this Wednesday will hold its last session, televised in prime time. The nine members (seven Democrats and two Republicans) of the parliamentary panel accuse Trump of having incited and planned the violence that day days before after losing the 2020 elections.
During the conversation, Bolton hinted that Trump was not competent enough to carry out a “carefully planned coup.” “As someone who has helped plan coups, not here, but you know [en] other places, it takes a lot of work. And that’s not what he [Trump] He did,” added the Republican’s former adviser. When influencing the interviewer on that point, Bolton refused to comment on “specific cases.” However, immediately afterwards, he alluded to the political crisis in Venezuela in 2019, while he was still a National Security Advisor, when the US government of which he was a part recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó as interim president.
Bolton went on to state that “the opposition tried to unseat an illegitimately elected president [Nicolás Maduro] and failed.” Maduro remained in power. In addition, he considered it “laughable” to believe that Trump, with whom he ended up at odds, is “not even half as competent as the Venezuelan opposition” to organize a coup. Bolton, considered a Republican hawk in favor of US interventionism in other countries, served as National Security Advisor between 2018 and 2019, when Trump dismissed him precisely because of his disagreements about the policy towards Venezuela.
“I feel that there are other things that you are not telling me [más allá de Venezuela]”, insisted the CNN presenter, to which the also American ambassador to the UN between 2005 and 2006 responded cryptically: “I’m sure there are”.
“John Bolton, who has served in the highest offices of the United States Government, including [como] UN ambassador, casually brags that he has helped plot coups in other countries,” BBC Kenyan journalist Dickens Olewe wrote on Twitter.
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John Bolton, who’s served in highest positions in the US government, including UN ambassador, casually boasting about he’s helped plan coups in other countries. https://t.co/v01CqssJSL
— Dickens Olewe (@DickensOlewe) July 12, 2022
Twitter’s outcry, already usually loud, skyrocketed after Bolton’s statements, especially because of the normality with which he assumes the wicked US interventionism. Latin American users of social networks launched into a storm to criticize his words, given that the backyard The United States has traditionally been a fertile ground for its destabilization maneuvers, due to the important economic and political interests at stake.
The most serious example was the invasion of Panama in December 1989. It was officially called Operation Just Cause and its objective was to remove Manuel Antonio Noriega from power. In 2020, the National Security Archives revealed Washington’s involvement in the destabilization of Chile, which stemmed from the 1973 coup against President Salvador Allende and was orchestrated behind the scenes by the almighty Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
The role of the CIA in the overthrow of the Iranian nationalist Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh (1953), who had dared to nationalize oil, through the invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) this century, reveals the very direct interference of Washington in abroad. However, it is very rare for senior officials to openly acknowledge their role in fomenting destabilization or coups in foreign countries. Until Bolton broke the unwritten rule of silence.
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