Kast: Another Trump Protégé

He didn't want to be compared to Milei and Trump, but it only took a few hours for his Pinochetist leanings to get the better of him, and he quickly went to celebrate his victory with the long-haired Argentine libertarian and mutter his hatred for Venezuela, asking the American puppet master to invade the South American country and depose Nicolás Maduro, because that way he would be doing everyone a favor.

Kast's statements come at a time when Washington has significantly increased its military presence in the region, the largest in decades, and launched a series of deadly attacks against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific—a blatant violation of human rights—with the aim of overthrowing Nicolás Maduro's government and seizing Venezuela's wealth.

José Antonio Kast, a self-proclaimed "son of God," but I suspect more of a son of Trump—given what he inherits—even without having assumed the presidency he won handily in Chile, is already threatening to shatter his campaign promises to govern without inciting hatred have been shattered by his subservience to imperialism.

This is yet another leader who places most Latin American power not just within the right wing, but within an extreme that borders on fascism.

In this way, the red-faced US president receives further support for his policy of force against Venezuela, imposing a naval blockade to prevent oil tankers from entering or leaving the country, and threatening a large-scale aggression with unpredictable consequences, all with the sinister aim of stealing its oil, land, and other resources, which he falsely claims were taken from them.

Thus, another lie emerges, one that goes beyond the justification of his actions as retaliation against drug trafficking.

Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and now Petro's Colombia are the targets of the Empire, as Kast praises them just hours after the Chilean people granted the Pinochet supporter a victory, conveniently forgetting the historical past, following a government that called itself leftist but proved very weak in the face of the local oligarchy.

REJECTION OF PINOCHETISM

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, responding to a member of parliament who praised Kast's victory, predicted the arrival of death, asserted that fascism is advancing and that he will never shake hands with a Nazi or a Nazi's son, and declared: “It's sad that Pinochet had to impose himself by force, but it's even sadder now that people are choosing their own Pinochet: elected or not, they are children of Hitler, and Hitler kills people.”

Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged reflection on history and democracy following the recent presidential election in Chile, referring to statements made by the far-right candidate-elect, José Antonio Kast, who has defended the figure of dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The president firmly criticized the glorification of authoritarian regimes in reference to Kast's electoral victory, while also noting that the election result "must be respected because it’s a democratic decision of the Chilean people."

She recalled that, after winning democratically, Salvador Allende took a series of actions, such as the nationalization of copper, which displeased groups within the Chilean oligarchy and the United States, leading to a coup d'état. The first problem is that Allende's government had been democratically elected by the Chilean people.”

She insisted that during the dictatorship, “there are scenes that are very difficult to forget, terrible scenes of murders in a stadium, where they placed the bodies of those they had arrested and annihilated them without trial, simply for thinking differently, beyond the economic model.” “In other words, an absolutely authoritarian, dictatorial regime that lasted for many years,” she added.

LEADING THREAD 

To understand current US policy toward Venezuela—especially the logic behind both the current military deployment and the “narco-terrorism” narrative—it’s essential to understand the role of former Senator Marco Rubio, Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Since the first Trump administration, and with much greater force in the second, Rubio has become the principal political and ideological architect of Washington’s strategy toward the Latin American “axis of evil” (Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela), and especially against the Maduro government.

Rubio has promoted sanctions, the Latin American “axis of evil” narrative, and now The designation of the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization expands the scope of military action. Furthermore, the military campaign against “narco-terrorism” has generated tensions between the White House and leaders on Capitol Hill, as it could set a significant legal precedent.

His vision, marked by his origins in the Cuban exile community of Miami and by a distorted reading of Latin American authoritarianism, has shaped sanctions, diplomatic pressure, the international narrative on Venezuela, and now also the way the US administration legally interprets the use of force for more than a decade. In practice, Rubio is the common thread connecting the hardline shift against Maduro since 2017, the expansion of the sanctions regime, the instrumentalization of transnational crime, and—more recently—the justification of military operations without congressional authorization.

AMBITION

The United States lost its hegemony in its own backyard years ago. And it has been a long time since Washington has shown such interest in Latin America. Thus, the “America First” has transformed into “Americas First,” reflecting the objective of regaining control of that part of the world. This is an ambitious goal for Trump.

The heavy US military deployment in the Caribbean, with its sights set on Venezuela, initially justified as a counter-narcotics operation, points to larger political objectives given its scale. The cost and sophistication of the operation are key considerations. Among the objectives are pressuring the Maduro government or preparing for a bloody scenario should it choose the path of aggression, which is becoming increasingly likely.

Experts point out that the amount of drugs reaching US cities via Venezuela is marginal. Most of the cocaine produced in Colombia and arriving in the US does so through Ecuador and the Pacific, while the vast majority of fentanyl and synthetic drugs destined for the same market—the true battleground for Donald Trump and a genuine public health issue in the US—are produced in laboratories in Mexico and Central America.

What’s clear is that the concentration of weaponry and personnel deployed in the Caribbean would be overkill if the true objective of the operation is to combat organized crime. If the sources of drug trafficking funding—entrenched in U.S. territory—are not directly attacked, it’s highly likely that the cartels will re-emerge with renewed strength after a period of dormancy, which may be more or less prolonged, depending on the duration of the operation, which, I emphasize, has an extremely high cost.

Therefore, beyond the initial justification of curbing drug trafficking—which does not require an aircraft carrier—the level and nature of the military deployment point to a more political and strategic objective, ranging from exerting military pressure on Nicolás Maduro to provoke regime change, to preparing options in the event of a possible deterioration of the internal situation in Venezuela, or gaining advantageous access to its oil.

Determining the true objective is an arduous task, not only because Trump's designs are inscrutable, despite their apparent transparency, but also because they can change from one day to the next. Despite this, the bellicose leader has declared on several occasions that he believes Maduro's days are numbered. A lack of ambition has never been the White House occupant's weak point.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff