The United States’ approach to Venezuela has alternated between sanctions, law enforcement measures, diplomatic negotiations, and sporadic military signaling since the failed 2002 coup against Hugo Chávez and the 2025 naval build-up in the southern Caribbean. The chain of events is not as enigmatic as it may appear: multiple administrations have attempted to prevent the consolidation of an authoritarian, corrupt government that also controls the largest proven oil reserves in the world, encourages widespread regional migration, and Washington claims to provide sanctuary to transnational criminal and trafficking networks.

A short coup overthrew Chávez in April 2002, but it fell apart two days later due to local and regional pressure. This marked the beginning of the lengthy arc. The Organi

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