In the media: UCLA experts on US incursion into Venezuela, Maduro capture, US oil interests

UCLA experts have weighed in on local and national news on the U.S.' unprecedented incursion into Venezuela and its capture and prosecution of Nicolás Maduro, the country's president, and his wife, Cilia Flores. Faculty commentary has been focused on whether the incursion violated international law, the historical context of U.S. involvement in Latin America and its governments, U.S. oil interests in the region, the economic impact of sanctions and recent events, as well as potential connections to the drug trade and Iran's influence.

Trump's Venezuela operation echoes the CIA's Chile playbook

Sebastian Edwards, distinguished professor of global economics and management, UCLA Anderson School of Management

Financial Times (Jan. 7)

"Many Latin Americans have long believed that the US views the region as its backyard. This perception is often traced to the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, with its blunt assertion that 'America is for the Americans.' The Trump administration's capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on January 3 has revived these long-standing sensitivities. While a significant segment of the US population - particularly the large Venezuelan diaspora - has welcomed the arrest of the strongman, most governments and political leaders in the region have condemned what they regard as an unacceptable intrusion into a country's internal affairs. This is not the first time Washington has sought to shape political outcomes in Latin America.

"The most serious and consequential episode was the Nixon administration's systematic effort between 1970 and 1973 to destabilise and remove Chile's president Salvador Allende - a Marxist who had been democratically elected in September 1970 and who was eventually deposed by a CIA-supported coup led by General Augusto Pinochet on September 11 1973. In both the Maduro and Allende cases, control over strategic natural resources lay at the heart of US interests.

"The comparison between Maduro and Allende reveals more about strategy than ideology. In both cases, the US government reacted to the expropriation of assets owned by American firms in sectors deemed strategically vital. What differed were the means: covert destabilisation and regime change in Chile; and legal, financial and diplomatic pressure - culminating in a military operation and criminal prosecution - in Venezuela. The instruments and historical contexts may differ, but Washington's underlying objective in both cases was the same: to reassert control over property rights and strategic resources in the western hemisphere. For many Latin Americans, this continuity reinforces the enduring belief that, doctrines aside, power politics in the region remain stubbornly familiar."

History behind Venezuela conflict

Benjamin Radd, senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations

Spectrum News 1 (Jan. 6)

"We're seeing here a national security threat as presented by the president and an area that falls within the U.S. sphere of interest going back to the Monroe Doctrine, which President Trump has now cited several times, and those are serving as the legal basis for this operation.

"The United States has really not undertaken a nation-building experiment since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, about 15 years or so ago, longer than that, and so this is an unprecedented attempt to try to remake and reshape a government in South America, but again, even here, there has been vague discussion about what the U.S. will exactly be doing. You'll notice in President Trump's statements in the last 24 hours, very little has been said about rebuilding democratic institutions or bringing democracy or the rule of law back to Venezuela. It's been focused really on its strategic interests, and specifically its oil."

Venezuela's economy plunged into uncertainty after Maduro abduction

Al Jazeera (Jan. 8)

Ultimately, oil revenues will be key to the revival of Venezuela's economy, said Benjamin Radd, a senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations.

But getting the Latin American country's oil market ready will take massive investment in infrastructure, "so we are years away before we see any of that in Venezuela," Radd told Al Jazeera.

While Trump has pledged to "run" Venezuela and control energy sales, there has been little clarity on what that would entail.

"Trump has been very vague on this entire process," Radd said.

A key factor is the structure of Venezuela's government, which has been left largely in place, in contrast to the de-Ba'athification of Iraq following the US's 2003 invasion.

"It is also not clear what is the status of the legitimacy of the current Venezuelan government, [or] what economic measures can they even undertake," Radd said.

"There are a lot of unknowns here."

Rubio helped oust Maduro, running Venezuela may prove trickier

Robin Derby, associate professor of history

New York Times (Jan. 7)

Robin Lauren Derby, a historian of Latin America at the University of California at Los Angeles, said Mr. Trump could have lifted the sanctions he imposed on Venezuela in his first term to try to reach Mr. Rubio's "better future."

"This is a deeply troubling situation," she said. "The U.S. 'running' Venezuela would be very costly and deeply unpopular there."

Trump casts Maduro as 'narco-terrorist' driving American deaths. Experts have questions

Jorja Leap, social welfare professor

Los Angeles Times (Jan. 9)

"Jorja Leap, a social welfare professor and executive director of the UCLA Social Justice Research Partnership who has spent years interviewing gang members and drug dealers in the L.A. region, said Trump's hyper-focus on Maduro, Venezuela and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as driving forces within the U.S. drug trade not only belies reality but also belittles the work of researchers who know better.

"Aside from making it a political issue, this is disrespecting the work of researchers, social activists, community organizers and law enforcement who have worked on this problem on the ground and understand every aspect of it," Leap said. "This is political theater."

Could US strike Iran again? Expert says Venezuela strike underlines the risks

Dalia Dassa Kaye, senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations

CNBC (Jan. 4)

Kaye spoke about where Iran stands in light of the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro. She says the U.S. administration, which sees a link between the Maduro regime and Iran, is hoping to diminish Iran's foothold in South America.