Trump Defends Imperialist Aggression at the UN

On Tuesday, September 22, speaking before the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Donald Trump defended his imperialist policies and escalated his threats and provocations, particularly against Cuba and Iran. At the heart of his speech was a reaffirmation of his historic sphere of influence in Latin America.

As expected, Trump once again reiterated his threats to destroy Iran: 

Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?

This intimidation follows the threats made at the height of the war that “a whole civilization will die.” Today, however, the situation is different. Whatever the rhetoric, the United States has suffered a historic defeat and is now trying to recover by forcing Iran to reach an agreement.

In his speech on Tuesday, Trump also confirmed construction of new U.S. military bases in Greenland, following the agreement reached with Denmark the day before. Presented by Washington as a “permanent” right to do whatever is necessary for the island’s security, this pact actually aims to secure privileged access to the territory’s abundant resources, while excluding China and Russia.

The main point of Trump’s speech was to reaffirm his imperialist ambitions in his historical sphere of influence, Latin America, including by threatening to use military power to safeguard vital U.S. interests in the region. Indeed, he openly claimed responsibility for the January 3 operation in Venezuela, taking credit for the military intervention that kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro, and presenting the newly forged ties with Delcy Rodríguez’s government, which resulted from that operation.

Regarding Venezuela and its oil, invoking an old colonial maxim that “to the victor belong the spoils,” Trump reaffirmed his desire to transform the country into a U.S. protectorate. Today, the United States exercises direct control over entire sectors of the country’s political and economic life, with Venezuela’s formal sovereignty coexisting with the total subordination of its strategic choices to Washington’s interests.

At the heart of his attacks on Latin America, he identified Cuba as a “failed state” that “will fall,” and threatened that his administration was “aiming for a fundamental change in the situation.” The intervention in Venezuela served as a warning to Cuba, as Washington sought to demonstrate that it is prepared to move from sanctions and threats to military action. 

That is why he is now publicly announcing that he seeks a “fundamental change” on the island while maintaining and strengthening the brutal economic and energy blockade. He intends to transform Cuba into a new colony, subject to the dictates of U.S. imperialism.

Trump’s provocations at the UN show that it is not only Venezuela or Cuba that are under threat, but all peoples who oppose imperialist interests. In the face of such ambitions, we need an international campaign against U.S. imperialism that unites the defense of Venezuela with that of Cuba and the struggle against all forms of military intervention, blockades, occupation, plunder, and colonial subjugation.

As Milton D’León argues in our sister publication, La Izquierda Diario: 

We must build an international movement from below: a campaign that takes to the streets of Latin America, the United States, Europe, and around the world to reject imperialist intervention in Venezuela, demand an end to the neocolonial protectorate over the country, oppose the plundering of its resources, and unequivocally defend the Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination.

A campaign that demands the lifting of the blockade against Cuba, an end to the economic and energy siege, rejects military intervention, and defends the Cuban people’s right to freely decide their future. […] A campaign that opposes U.S. militarization and interference in Latin America and the Caribbean and denounces the use of our peoples’ resources as spoils of war. 

It is the right of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean to never again become colonies.

Originally published in French on September 23 in Révolution Permanente.