Trump redraws the map by force. Puerto Rico falls into the new order of 2026: a colony reactivated for war and the control of the hemisphere.
By:
Sandra Rodríguez Cotto
The
world awakened today to a thunder that did not come from New Year's fireworks,
but from the missiles of "Operation
Absolute Resolve." In a maneuver seemingly ripped from an eighties
action movie, the United States captured Nicolás
Maduro and Cilia
Flores, transporting them like war trophies from Caracas to U.S. soil, with
a cynical technical layover in Puerto Rico.
This
is not merely a logistical move; it is an illegal slap
in the face to the entire region, using our Island as the offloading dock for
an empire that has finally decided to strip away the mask it once claimed was
diplomatic.
From
his mansion at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump not only announced the fall of Chavismo
but dusted off a sterilized—yet far more aggressive—version of the Monroe Doctrine. This
time, he isn't asking for permission; he is here to collect. It is no longer
about "America for the Americans," but "The Hemisphere Under My
Boot." With his sights set on Mexico,
Colombia, and Brazil, the rhetoric is clear: any country labeled a
"narco-refuge" is a potential target.
But hypocrisy is the main course of these new geopolitics. While Trump dons the mantle of a crusader against narco-trafficking to justify the invasion of Venezuela, just a few weeks ago he granted a full pardon to Juan Orlando Hernández. Yes, the very same former president of Honduras convicted of turning his country into a narco-state and smuggling at least 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. The message is transparent: drug trafficking is only a crime if you aren't a useful ally or if you have oil beneath your feet.
And
Puerto Rico?
President Donald Trump during today's press conference
In
this cynical and violent chessboard, our Caribbean archipelago returns to being
what it has always been for the empire: a military colony. Maduro’s stopover in
"PeErre" was no coincidence; it is a reminder of our logistical
utility.
With
the increased
use of military
bases and the looming shadow of returning exercises in Vieques, Ponce,
Aguadilla, Arroyo, and other municipalities, Puerto Rico drifts further away
from any hope of decolonization, reaffirming itself as the military bastion of
the Caribbean. We have been dragged back to the last century.
We
are not allies, nor subordinates, and certainly not partners. We are their
backyard. We are the "unsinkable aircraft carrier" from which threats
against Mexico, warnings to Colombia, and eventually, the incursion toward
Greenland will be launched. Trump does not see citizens in the Caribbean; he
sees strategic coordinates.
The
Domino Effect: A World Without Rules
This
"blank check" that Washington signed in Venezuela sends a dangerous
signal to the rest of the planet. If the United States can kidnap a head of
state and administer a sovereign country under the pretext of "economic
security" in this 21st century, what stops China
from invading Taiwan
in a week, Russia
from finishing off Ukraine,
or Israel
from completing the total annihilation in Gaza?
We
are facing the end of diplomacy and the dawn of the era of brute force. And
Puerto Rico, caught in the eye of this hurricane, risks being more of a
"colony" than ever. We will be a sacrificial piece in a game where
the board is the world map and the rules are dictated by a single man from a
golf club in Florida.
Venezuela
has already fallen. Mexico and Colombia are in the crosshairs. Greenland is the
next whim. Meanwhile, in Borinquen, the sound of military boots fills the
silence.
No comments:
Post a Comment