Afrasianet - Over the years, the United States has been involved in several processes to change the systems of government in countries, especially during the Cold War era.
This was often done by supporting military coups or covert CIA operations, with the aim of preventing the spread of communism or protecting U.S. economic interests.
This included Iran in 1953, where a covert IAEA operation in cooperation with Britain helped topple elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh after nationalizing the oil industry, restoring Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to power.
As happened in Guatemala in 1954, another covert operation toppled President-elect Jacobo Arbenz to protect the interests of a U.S. company, opening the door to military dictatorships and a protracted civil war.
This pattern continued in South Vietnam in 1963, where the United States supported a coup that led to the assassination of President Ngo Dinh Diem. Then in Brazil in 1964, by supporting a military coup against elected President João Goulart, establishing a dictatorial rule that lasted for decades.
Also in Indonesia between 1965 and 1967, U.S. support for General Suharto contributed to the overthrow of President Sukarno and a bloody repression followed.
In Chile in 1973, the agency supported the coup d'état of General Augusto Pinochet, who overthrew elected President Salvador Allende because of his socialist policies, establishing a dictatorship.
In addition to these cases, there are other examples of less direct support, such as in Syria in 1949 through the coup led by Hosni al-Za'im, in the Congo in 1960 with his involvement in the assassination of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, and in the Dominican Republic between 1961 and 1963 through multiple interventions.
In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq under the pretext of possessing weapons of mass destruction, and the regime of President Saddam Hussein, who was later executed in 2006, was overthrown.
In Libya in 2011, the United States led a NATO military intervention, under a UN resolution to protect civilians, that toppled Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
The latest U.S. intervention is now happening in Venezuela, where President Donald Trump announced a U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, along with air strikes on Caracas.
These operations have typically resulted in authoritarian regimes, civil wars, or ongoing instability, and have historically been justified by national security or anti-communism, while others see them as a form of interference with national sovereignty.
