Expert Analyst: International Politics, Middle East & Nonviolent Action
Latin America/Caribbean
Responsible Statecraft, Jan 14, 2026 by Leah Schroeder (quotes Stephen Zunes) Experts say the ‘easy’ Venezuela operation is reminiscent of George H.W. Bush’s 1989 invasion of Panama, which in part served to bury the ghosts of Vietnam “Panama mattered because…
Between the Lines Radio News, on WPKN.org’s Mic Check, with Richard Hill (25-min.) plus transcript on Substack.
KTVU, Bay Area Fox affiliate, Jan. 5, 2026 (3-Min.). Indictment’s not likely to hold.
The Progressive, January 6, 2026 and republished by Common Dreams as, Until Democrats Confront the Lawlessness of Trump’s Venezuela Assault, Expect More War. The U.S. attack resulted from having an incredibly corrupt and autocratic-minded President using his office to enrich…
WORT FM, Madison, January 8, 2026 (48-min): The Monroe Doctrine Rises Again in Venezuela. Host Allen Ruff and Professor Stephen Zunes discuss his recent article in The Progressive, “The Real Reason Trump Invaded Venezuela: It’s not drugs, democracy, or even…
WPKN: Politics, Policy, and Planet Podcast #349, Jan. 5, 2026US Imperialism Roars Back To Life, Prof. Stephen Zunes (24-min)
KTVU Fox-TV Bay-Area affiliate: Sat, January 3, 2026 (5-min) International politics professor weighs in on Maduro’s capture
OAR FM Radio, Community or Chaos late Feb. 2025:Zunes and New Zealand political science professor Robert Patman discussed the international ramifications of a Trump presidency — “a slow motion coup.”
July 2018 Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies, V.2(1), and International Center on Nonviolent Conflict and Research Gate: Despite being the poorest and least developed country in South America, Bolivia was the first to emerge from the period of…
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, December 2017: This monograph presents in-depth case studies and analysis intended to improve our understanding of the strategic utility of civil resistance against military takeovers; the nature of civil resistance mobilization against coups; and the…
National Catholic Reporter December 9, 2016 While he no longer held any formal position of power since his resignation as president for health reasons eight years ago, Fidel Castro’s death last month marks the passing of an era. In…
During the 1980s, the United States was seriously divided over U.S. policy toward Central America. The Reagan administration was propping up a brutal military-backed regime in El Salvador that was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people, including priests, nuns and catechists, along with labor, student and human rights leaders, as well as peasants who happened to live in areas supporting the opposition.
On March 3, Berta Cáceres, a brave and outspoken indigenous Honduran environmental activist and winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize [1], was gunned down in her hometown of La Esperanza. Erika Guevara-Rosas [2], Americas director for Amnesty International, noted how “For years, she had been the victim of a sustained campaign of harassment and threats to stop her from defending the rights of indigenous communities.”
On this anniversary, it would be worth looking back at the Grenadian revolution, the U.S. invasion, its aftermath and the important precedent it set for “regime change” through U.S. military intervention.
It’s like the 1980s all over again. During that decade, the Reagan administration – with the support of Congress – sent billions of dollars worth of unconditional military and other support to the right wing-junta in El Salvador, just as the Obama administration is today with the right-wing government in Israel.
The massive nonviolent movement that put pressure on the coup government may be only the first chapter of an important and prolonged struggle for justice in one of Latin America’s poorest and most inequitable countries
One of the hemisphere’s most critical struggles for democracy in 20 years is now unfolding in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa (nicknamed “Tegucigolpe” for its long history of military coup d’états, which are called golpes de estado, in Spanish). Despite censorship and repression, popular anger over the June 28 military overthrow of democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya is growing. International condemnation has been near-unanimous, and the Organization of American States has suspended Honduras, the first time the hemisphere-wide body has taken so drastic an action since 1962.
The overthrow in August of what arguably constituted the most democratic government in the Arab world marks a serious setback in Africa as well as the Middle East.
The alleged support by the United States of wealthy landowners, business leaders, and their organizations tied to the violent uprising in eastern Bolivia has led U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg’s expulsion from La Paz and the South American government’s demands that the United States stop backing the illegitimate rebellion. Goldberg had met with some of these right-wing oppositionist leaders just a week before the most recent outbreak of violence against the democratically elected government of Evo Morales, who won a recall referendum in August with over 67% of the popular vote….
Americas.org, October 30, 2007, by Stephen Zunes. Also by America Latina en Movimiento, and Scoop New Zealand [scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0711/S00220/ScoopNew.htm] Much to the chagrin of the Bush administration, Bolivian president Evo Morales has been going to great lengths to separate his country…