Explore the implications of the New Monroe Doctrine and its effects on the Western Hemisphere.
Welcome to «The New Monroe Doctrine», where I give you an update on what’s going on in the Western Hemisphere, south of our border, especially as it relates to the United States. When the News Gets Personal
Slow news week, huh?
For those of you who have been with me for a while, you know that I’ve been predicting the fall of Nicolás Maduro for months, since the summer, and even went out on a limb and suggested how it would likely end up happening. I say this not to toot my own horn, but to tell you that I became personally invested in this situation. Every week, I was documenting what was happening, what the rest of the media was getting wrong, what Donald Trump and Marco Rubio were saying, and what Maduro’s response was — usually some sort of silly song and dance number. I was getting to know many Venezuelan people and journalists, working on some interviews, etc. I’m already passionate about Latin America and our foreign policy there, but seeing a free Venezuela became a passion project to say the least.
On Friday afternoon/evening, January 2, I struggled to write that evening’s New Monroe Doctrine column — nothing made sense in my mind. I had a headache brewing. What should have taken a couple of hours took like four or five. It finally occurred to me that I was exhausted. With the exception of one or two days, I worked through the entire month of December, even on holidays, and I just needed a mental and physical break. I cut out early, took a bath, watched a little TV, got into bed, and thought, I’ll just sleep in tomorrow.
What could possibly happen? The Western Hemisphere can do without me for a night.
On Saturday morning, when I finally woke up and looked at my phone, I was alarmed at the number of texts and notifications I had, many from our managing editor, Chris Queen. As it turns out, a lot can happen overnight — Maduro had been captured.
And I missed it. I didn’t get to break the news. This was the big story I’d been working toward for months, and I slept right through it. What bothered me even more was that when I opened my email, I had a few from some of you with people on the ground in Venezuela who told me something was happening as early as 2 a.m. I could have been on it all night. I felt awful, like I’d let everyone down.
Thankfully, our own Rick Moran jumped into action and broke the news on Saturday, and he did a good job with it. But it took me several hours to compose my thoughts and even get something into writing that day because I was so emotional. I eventually got over the fact that I’d missed it and realized that it didn’t matter who got the story — the important thing is that the people of Venezuela have hope for the first time in decades, and that the United States is showing our adversaries on the world stage who is boss again.
The funny thing is, I was getting ready for bed last night — Thursday night — and thinking, gosh, it’s been about two or three weeks since we captured Maduro. But no, it’d only been about six days. For all of us covering the news — and maybe for all of you watching and reading — it’s felt like much longer. We’ve had fun with the «slow news day» jokes behind the scenes here, but everything is moving so fast all of a sudden, not just in Venezuela, but all over the world, from Minnesota to Iran. I’ve barely slept all week. Making History
So, back to capturing Maduro. The amount of news coming out this week has been overwhelming, especially when you’re in the middle of writing an article and have to start over. Or when you are capable or, more likely, willing, to play detective and figure out that 80% of what the media prints isn’t true or is exaggerated.
But regardless of the fine details, this is an incredibly historic moment for our country and our world. The ramifications reach far beyond Venezuela and, if Trump, Rubio, and their team continue on the right path, it may very well change the world forever, or at least for a long time. Admittedly, in the beginning, I wasn’t all that sure that they were on the correct path, but in more recent days, after doing my own research and talking to some smart people, I’m much more confident. Heck, just watching the meeting Trump had with the oil executives today made me realize he’s on the right path more than we know.
If anyone can take on this project and complete it successfully, it’s our president and the men and women who surround him. I am confident in that for now.
The biggest sign that things are changing quickly and for the better? The reaction of the other countries south of our border, especially the other socialists. They’ve seen what Donald Trump is capable of, and they realize they’ve lost or are losing the battle.
