From the mid‑19th century to today, U.S. interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean have consistently combined military force, political influence, and economic pressure. Across this long arc, millions of lives have been shaped—often shattered—by policies that prioritize strategic advantage over human flourishing. Today’s geopolitical tensions with Venezuela are the latest flashpoint in a historical pattern that rewards elites while exacting profound human costs.
Note on Timing: This article is intentionally posted on Christmas Day 2025, a day traditionally associated with peace, goodwill, and reflection, to underscore the contrast between those ideals and the ongoing human toll of U.S. militarism and intervention abroad. The symbolic timing is a reminder that while many celebrate, others suffer the consequences of policies driven by power, profit, and geopolitics.
A Critical Warning for Students and Young People
As Higher Education Inquirer has repeatedly argued, the United States’ military footprint—its wars, recruitment programs, and entanglements with higher education—has deep consequences not just abroad but at home. ROTC programs and military enlistment are often marketed as pathways to education and economic stability, but they also funnel young people into systems with long‑term obligations, moral hazards, and psychological risk. Prospective enlistees and their families should think twice before committing to military pathways that may bind them to morally questionable conflicts and institutional control.
Moreover, U.S. higher education has become deeply entwined with kleptocracy, militarism, and colonialism, supporting war economies and benefiting from federal research contracts with defense and intelligence partners that obscure the real human costs of empire. These warnings are especially salient in the context of Venezuela and similar interventions, where human toll and geopolitical stakes demand deeper scrutiny.
Smedley Butler: War Is a Racket and the Business Plot
Major General Smedley D. Butler, among the most decorated U.S. Marines, became one of the U.S. military’s most outspoken critics. In his 1935 War Is a Racket, Butler rejected romantic notions of military glory and exposed the economic motives behind many interventions:
“War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious.”
“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service… being a high‑class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism.”
“Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.”
Butler’s warnings were not abstract. In 1933, he was approached to lead a coup against President Franklin D. Roosevelt, known as the Business Plot, which he publicly exposed. His testimony before Congress revealed how elite interests sought to use military power to overthrow democratic government, an episode that underscores his critique of war as a tool for entrenched interests at the expense of ordinary people.
Historical Interventions and Their Toll
Below is a timeline of major U.S. interventions in the Americas, with estimated deaths, showing the human cost of policies that often served strategic or economic interests over humanitarian ones:
| Period | Location | Event / Nature of Intervention | Estimated Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1846–1848 | Mexico | Mexican-American War: Territorial conquest | ~25,000 Mexicans |
| 1898 | Cuba/P.R. | Spanish-American War: U.S. seized P.R.; Cuba protectorate | ~15,000–60,000 (90% disease) |
| 1914 | Mexico | Occupation of Veracruz: U.S. port seizure | ~300 Mexicans |
| 1915–1934 | Haiti | Military Occupation: Suppression of rebellions | ~3,000–15,000 |
| 1916–1924 | Dominican Rep. | Marine Occupation: Control of customs/finance | ~4,000 |
| 1954 | Guatemala | Op. PBSuccess: CIA coup against Árbenz; led to civil war | 150,000–250,000* |
| 1965 | Dominican Rep. | Op. Power Pack: U.S. intervention during civil war | ~3,000 |
| 1973–1990 | Chile | U.S.-backed Coup/Regime: Pinochet dictatorship | 3,000–28,000* |
| 1975–1983 | S. America | Operation Condor: CIA-supported intelligence network | ~60,000* |
| 1976–1983 | Argentina | Dirty War: U.S.-supported military junta and coup | ~30,000* |
| 1979–1992 | El Salvador | Civil War: Massive military aid to govt forces | 35,000–75,000* |
| 1981–1990 | Nicaragua | Iran-Contra Affair: Covert support for Contras | ~30,000–50,000* |
| 1989 | Panama | Operation Just Cause: Invasion to remove Noriega | 500–3,000 |
| 2025 | Venezuela | Naval Blockade: Active maritime strikes and standoff | 100+ (to date) |
*Estimates include civilian casualties and deaths indirectly caused by U.S.-supported interventions.
Venezuela and the Global Politics of Intervention
Venezuela’s 2025 crisis is the latest in a long history of U.S. pressure in the hemisphere. A naval blockade—accompanied by maritime strikes and political isolation—has already produced more than 100 confirmed deaths. Historically, interventions like this have often prioritized U.S. strategic or economic interests over local welfare.
The situation is further complicated by global geopolitics. Former President Donald Trump, who recently pardoned key figures involved in controversial interventions, including Iran‑Contra actors, also maintains strategic ties with China and Russia, highlighting how interventions are entangled with global power plays that affect universities, recruitment pipelines, and domestic politics alike.
A Call to Rethink Intervention and Recruitment
Smedley Butler’s critique remains urgent: to “smash the racket,” profit must be removed from war, military force should be strictly defensive, and decisions about war must rest with those who bear its consequences. From Mexico to Venezuela—and including covert operations like Iran‑Contra—the historical record shows how interventions serve a narrow elite while imposing massive human costs.
HEI’s warnings underscore that higher education, ROTC programs, and military recruitment pipelines are not neutral pathways but deeply embedded parts of systems that reproduce extraction, militarism, and inequality. Students, educators, and families must critically evaluate the incentives and promises of military pathways and demand institutions that serve learning, opportunity, and justice rather than empire.
Sources
Butler, Smedley D. War Is a Racket. Round Table Press, 1935.
U.S. Congressional Record and Butler testimony on the Business Plot, 1934.
Kinzer, Stephen. Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq.
Scott, Peter Dale. Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America.
Reporting on Trump pardons, Iran‑Contra participants, and global alliances (2020–2025).
Higher Education Inquirer, “Kleptocracy, Militarism, Colonialism: A Counterrecruiting Call for Students and Families,” December 7, 2025. (link)
Higher Education Inquirer, “The Hidden Costs of ROTC — and the Military Path,” November 28, 2025. (link)
Historical records on U.S. interventions: Mexican‑American War, Spanish‑American War, Guatemala (1954), Chile (1973), Argentina (1976–1983), El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela (2025).
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