Explainer | US interventions in Latin America: a history of coups and conflicts
From the Bay of Pigs to Operation Condor to Venezuela in 2026: A look at the legacy of CIA-backed coups and US military action in Latin America
The United States, which on Saturday attacked Venezuela and is said to have abducted its president, has a long history of military interventions and support for dictatorships in Latin America.
On multiple occasions the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro – who Donald Trump says is now in US hands – accused Washington of backing coup attempts.
Here are the main US interventions in Latin America since the Cold War.
1954: Guatemala
On June 27, 1954, colonel Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, president of Guatemala, was driven from power by mercenaries trained and financed by Washington, after a land reform that threatened the interests of the powerful US company United Fruit Corporation (later Chiquita Brands).
In 2003, the United States officially acknowledged the CIA’s role in this coup in the name of fighting communism.
1961: Cuba
From April 15 to 19, 1961, 1,400 anti-Castro militants trained and financed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) attempted to land at the Bay of Pigs, 250 km (155 miles) from Havana, but failed to overthrow Fidel Castro’s communist regime.