U.S. interventions in Latin America

The bombardment of Venezuela and capture of President Nicolás Maduro echoes a long history of U.S. interventions in Latin America since the Cold War

UNITED STATES

U.S.backed coups

Cuba, 1961: Some 1,400 Cuban exiles, trained by CIA, launch failed Bay of Pigs invasion aimed at ousting Fidel Castro (left)

Panama, 1989: President George H. W. Bush orders invasion by around 27,000 U.S. troops to capture Manuel Noriega (below) – former CIA ally indicted on U.S. drug charges

Guatemala, 1954
Elected President Jacobo Árbenz, whose land reforms threaten U.S. business interests, toppled by CIA under President Eisenhower, leading to decades of civil war

Nicaragua, 1980s: President Ronald Reagan funds Contra rebels fighting Sandinista government financed partly through illegal arms sales to Iran, sparking Iran-Contra scandal

Chile, 1973
CIA supports destabilisation and coup overthrowing leftist President Salvador Allende (right), bringing General Augusto Pinochet to power

Brazil, 1964: U.S. backs coup overthrowing elected left-wing President João Goulart (above), ushering in 21-year military dictatorship

Operation Condor 1970s: CIA provides intelligence and support to right-wing dictatorships in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay that coordinate repression against leftists

Uruguay
1973
Argentina
1976
Bolivia
1971
Paraguay
1954
Ecuador
1963
Venezuela
2026
Grenada
1983
Dominican
Rep. 1965
Nicaragua
El Salvador
1980

Sources: CBS News, AFP, Encyclopædia Britannica
Pictures: Getty Images, Newscom, Guatemala government
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