Talk:United States involvement in regime change

Regime change focus

This big and detailed article seems to include several instances of US interventions that did result in regime change, and even some that were not aimed at that. Given the number of (often quite short) articles on adjacent topics, e.g. Timeline of United States military operations or Foreign interventions by the United States, I wonder if some of the material should be taken out of this article and put in them. For instance:

• The 1846 US–Mexico War was a war over territory, not an attempted regime change; it did not result in regime change.
• 1887–1889 Samoa seems more of an imperialist battle for control, rather than a "regime change", although eventually it resulted in loss of nominal independence
• 1898–1901 China was an intervention in which the US supported the existing regime against a rebellion, so seems like it definitely shouldn't be here; it was a regime preservation intervention
• 1914 Mexico was not a regime change intervention
• 1918 Russia the US was attempting to stop Bolshevik regime change; it was a failed regime preservation intervention
• 1946–1949 China the US was attempting to stop Communist regime change; it was a failed regime preservation intervention
• 1946–1949 Greece the US was attempting to stop Communist regime change; it was a regime preservation intervention
• 1948–1970s Italy: this was interference, but it wasn't regime change
• 1955–1960 Laos: this was a regime preservation intervention
• 1958 Lebanon: this was explicitly a regime preservation intervention
• 1965–66 Dominican Republic: this was explicitly a regime preservation intervention, against Communist regime change
• 1980–1992 El Salvador: ditto
• 1991 Kuwait: I think it is quite a stretch to call this a regime change intervention. The US was defending the sovereignty of Kuwait against a foreign occupation, and chose not to continue the war and depose Saddam.
• 1991–2003 Iraq: This might count, though it wasn't a military intervention, but economic sanctions

BobFromBrockley (talk) 12:18, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

You can't discount a regime change simply because it involves civil war. When the USSR sent troops into various eastern European countries, it was also to defend "existing regimes". The Kurds and Shia were in a state of de facto civil war with Saddam Hussein in 2003, but that is the classic case of regime change.-GPRamirez5 (talk) 14:15, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Sorry, GPRamirez5, which of the examples I listed are you referring to? I agree, civil war itself doesn't preclude calling something regime change, but preserving existing regimes surely does? I agree, 2003 Iraq is an obvious example of a regime change intervention - but how was the Boxer Rebellion or Kuwait 1991, for example? BobFromBrockley (talk) 14:23, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

Most of this disputed, inaccurate, and misleading content has been added by User:NYCJosh using synthesis. I've long thought that cases of the U.S. supporting established governments against insurgent groups, particularly Greece and El Salvador, have no place in this article. I have also previously challenged NYCJosh regarding the criteria by which he determined that the Gulf War but not the Korean or Vietnam Wars is relevant here, but never received what I considered a satisfactory response. (Arguably only the Korean War might belong, given that allied troops crossed the 38th parallel in an effort to remove the North Korean regime, before being pushed back by the Chinese.) Similarly, I share your confusion over what the Mexican–American War has to do with this topic (although I admittedly can't blame NYCJosh for that long-standing content). Where GPRamirez5 is likely correct is with regard to the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.TheTimesAreAChanging (talk) 14:33, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

I agree that regime preservation is not regime change. But, yes, intervention in Russia was attempted regime change because the Bolsheviks had been in power since November 1917, and the Tsar had been out of power since March. In the case of the Korean War, yes, the US was trying to overthrow the North Korean government and unify the country under Rhee. But if that is regime change, WW1 and 2 should be regime change. For example, US troops invaded Germany and helped remove Hitler!--Jack Upland (talk) 16:34, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

The very first sentence of the article is: "United States involvement in regime change has entailed both overt and covert actions aimed at altering, replacing, or preserving foreign governments." So the article was conceived as encompassing actions aimed at "preserving" regimes against hostile foreign forces or in civil wars or popular rebellions. I have added some content based on this guidance.

It would be silly in my view to argue that intervening in a civil war is a regime change action only when it's on the side of one but not the other. The outcome of the civil war will determine the regime and intervening will help determine it. Also, often the opposition/insurgency declares a new govt and there are rival claims to be THE legitimate govt. It wouldn't make sense from a realistic/political standpoint--it would be overly legalistic--to say it's regime change to intervene in a civil war only if the opponents have declared a rival govt.

In WWII, the US was responding to an armed attack against it in self defense so that's not what is usually thought of under this category.--NYCJosh (talk) 18:44, 9 May 2018 (UTC)

I think the civil war point is a fair one, and US support for the Whites in Russia is therefore justified. But if the lede encourages us to include regime preservation in an article about regime change, then there's something wrong. The regime change article quite straightforwardly describes it as "Regime change is the replacement of one government regime with another." The defence of existing governments, whether democratic or dictatorial, is not regime change. So it seems to me sensible to more straightforwardly align the lede with the main regime change article and trim out all the examples that don't fit, on a case by case basis. The alternative, if there's a strong reason for the article to be more capacious, is to change the name, which seems silly. At the moment, we risk WP:SYN, unless we can find reliable sources saying these are examples of regime change, which seems unlikely in many cases. BobFromBrockley (talk) 22:19, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

In WWII, the US was responding to an armed attack against it in self defense so that's not what is usually thought of under this category I agree with that. But what about when the US was responding to an armed attack against an ally, in particular one it had a treaty obligation towards? This would be the case with the Kuwait Gulf War, and some of the "banana war" interventions in Honduras for example.BobFromBrockley (talk) 22:23, 11 May 2018 (UTC)

I am glad we agree about interventions in civil wars.

Not sure to what treaty obligation you are referring regarding defending Kuwait in 1990-1991 or the Honduras civil war. In any case, my comment focused on self-defense against armed attack against the US. But notwithstanding my reservation, if you want to add regime change in Germany (and Japan?) following WWII, I will not stand in your way. --NYCJosh (talk) 15:33, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

As discussed above, I don't think regime preservation is regime change. I agree that the lead is wrong. I don't think it's different in a civil war. I raised WW2 as a reductio ad absurdum, but it seems arguable. I don't know how "self-defence" is relevant. And I don't see how self-defence is different from defence of an ally. Wikipedia is neutral, so we can't say defeat of Hitler is a good thing, while regime change is a bad thing. Perhaps you are arguing that the US wasn't planning on regime change, but just defending itself. However, I think Roosevelt was planning on regime change. Even though Hitler declared war on the US in solidarity with the Japanese, there was no significant threat to the US from Germany, and US forces certainly had no need to go into Europe to defend themselves. There was no attack on the United States proper. Rather, Japan attacked the US imperial possessions in the Pacific. If this is self-defence, why shouldn't self-defence include the defence of a less formal American empire or the defence of a network of allies? The article says there was regime change in South Korea in 1945, but this was an immediate consequence of the WW2. It is inconsistent that the US occupation of Japan is not treated the same way. There was certainly regime change in Germany, which went beyond simply defeating Hitler. The country was divided. In West Germany, there was a process of denazification. The Communist Party was banned, and the SPD abandoned Marxism. The US has maintained a continuous military presence. The regime in Germany after WW2 was clearly different from the Nazi government, but it was also different from the Weimar Republic. And it is odd that the section on post-war Italy ignores the fact that the US had largely created the political system there.--Jack Upland (talk) 04:19, 8 December 2018 (UTC)

I don't feel strongly about any particular conflict here; I can see arguments either way for WWII. (The arguments for WWII, though, tend to suggest almost any conflict other than border skirmishes could potentially be included as they might lead to regime change?) I'm more concerned about the mismatch between the lede and the title, with the former being massively broader than the latter. Can we agree to tighten the lead, and then to remove instances from the article that definitely don't fit the topic, moving any material and citations to Timeline of United States military operations or Foreign interventions by the United States? BobFromBrockley (talk) 09:40, 10 December 2018 (UTC)

I agree that the lead should be tightened.--Jack Upland (talk) 06:24, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

Egypt 2013?

https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/07/06/us-backed-coup-hijacks-egypts-revolution/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jwray (talk • contribs) 22:37, 7 December 2018 (UTC)

Where is Venezuela?

It would be strange if the United States has not involvement in regime change in Venezuela, especially the current crisis. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.68.51.117 (talk) 15:30, 22 December 2018 (UTC)

Deleting 2005: Iran?

User "185.125.206.135" deleted the section on "2005: Iran", saying "Iran Topic was based on unreliable information and was simply a lie." That article included citations to ABC News as well as a Seymour Hersh article in The New Yorker and an article on Foreign Policy magazine. I did not check to see if the citations supported the claims made here. However, if user "185.125.206.135" feels that section is inappropriate, s/he will need to provide more evidence than a simple claim that it's "a lie." I'm reverting this change for lack of evidence to support the claim. DavidMCEddy (talk) 15:46, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

Recentism?

I'm a bit worried that the section on Venezuela at the end is getting rather inflated due to WP:Recentism. It is now one of the longest (if not the very longest) section in the article, despite not being more noteworthy than eariler more significant events. I think, as per WP:NOTNEWS, as the situation is unfolding, it is safer to keep it lean and flesh it out if necessary when the dust settles. BobFromBrockley (talk) 17:26, 29 January 2019 (UTC)

WW2 France

Not sure why it's here.--Jack Upland (talk) 09:12, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

It was a regime change. The US was involved.Adoring nanny (talk) 09:15, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

I would suggest one sentence saying the USA helped overthrow Hitler.--Jack Upland (talk) 09:35, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

More is needed, per WP:DUE.Adoring nanny (talk) 10:01, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

I don't see why there can be any objection to including this and giving it more than one sentence (the current four or five sentences seems DUE to me, although it should maybe also mention the US role in the end of the Vichy regime too?) as it is a really clear case of US military action helping to topple regimes (the Nazi occupation government and the Vichy puppet government) and helping impose a new one (the Fourth Republic). The only reason not to would be if we consider overthrowing occupations differently from changes to regimes, in which case we need to get rid of the sections on S Korea, China, Greece and the Philippines. Another grey area would be interference in elections once regimes are established, which is what the final (1948+) para of the Italy section is. BobFromBrockley (talk) 13:45, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

I guess the problem is there was a lot of "regime change" in and after WW2. Based on that we could have a huge amount of text on this. However, this is well-covered in other articles.--Jack Upland (talk) 18:37, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

So shouldn't we at least link to those articles? E.g. a See also tag at the start of the section? BobFromBrockley (talk) 10:43, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

Good idea. Just added several.Adoring nanny (talk) 12:58, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

Map is inaccurate

The map is inaccurate because it ignores US involvement in the removal of multiple Nazi and Japanese regimes during World War 2, as well as the regime changes in Germany and Japan after WW2. It should be fixed or removed. Adoring nanny (talk) 10:54, 20 March 2019 (UTC)

Korea

Korea from 1945 is a case of regime change because the Koreans were willing and able to take over the government once Japan was defeated. If the Americans hadn't intervened, it is clear that a different government would have emerged. The subsequent events up to the installation of Syngman Rhee as President are also regime change as they amount to the prevention of any other government.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:53, 25 March 2019 (UTC)

We should cover actual change. Per WP:Crystal, we should not cover what "would have" happened. Adoring nanny (talk) 10:59, 25 March 2019 (UTC)

Change is a constant. The difference is between what would have happened without US intervention and what happened because of US intervention. To some extent the future is always unknowable, but certainly we can say that the US government destroyed the new Korean government that was emerging under Lyuh.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:00, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

As soon as you write about what "would have happened", you run afoul of WP:Crystal. The relevant change in South Korea, the one that actually happened, was from the Japanese Administration to the Republic of Korea. If you look at my preferred version, it does cover Lyuh in a fashion consistent with WP:DUE.Adoring nanny (talk) 11:30, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

But necessarily the concept of regime change includes a recognition of what would have happened without the US involvement. If subsequent events would have happened anyway, then there is no change. Change, of necessity, involves conceptualising alternative realities. But nothing in the text I've added includes speculation about things that might have happened. And, furthermore, the period of Japanese Administration to the Republic of Korea, which you call the "relevant change", is from 1945 to 1948, which is exactly the period my text covers. Your preferred version removes a lot of information about the US involvement between 1945 and 1948, including an explanation of why the Division of Korea became permanent. This means the description of the foundation of South Korea is devoid of an explanation as to why it is South Korea. So a lot of the "actual change" is missed out.--Jack Upland (talk) 09:37, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

If we are going to ignore WP:Crystal, what "would have happened without US involvement" is surely a continuation of Japanese rule. Are you arguing that the article should focus on what would have happened with certain portions of US involvement, but without other portions of US involvement?Adoring nanny (talk) 11:13, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

No, I'm supporting the current text, which doesn't involve any crystal ball gazing, as far as I can see.--Jack Upland (talk) 18:39, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

You've twice attempted to justify the additional material by saying it is rooted in an understanding of "what would have happened", and now you are saying that it doesn't involve any WP:Crystal. The bottom line is that your arguments are self-contradictory, which certainly doesn't meet your WP:Burden as the person who adds or restores material. So I'm deleting it. Please recognize that until you meet your WP:Burden, you should not restore the material. Thank you.Adoring nanny (talk) 22:38, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

You have not identified any crystal ball gazing with the previous text. Since you agree that the regime change stretches from 1945 to 1948, there seems no reason you should object to the description of the US involvement in this process. Do you have any specific disagreement with the text you removed? Also, I don't understand why the US defence of the ROK amounts to regime change.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:42, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

The negotiation business is WP:UNDUE. A negotiation is obviously a complex affair with proposals by both sides. Are you going to go into detail about all of them? Lyuh's assassination was not a US action and is again WP:UNDUE. Regarding Rhee and the Korean war, one was a fight against an uprising, the other against an invasion. However the war is more deserving of inclusion because it was a US action, while what Rhee did was not. Additionally, the Korean War is obviously more WP:DUE. Going into depth about Rhee's assiciations is again WP:UNDUE. Rhee was not the regime; he merely won that election. Adoring nanny (talk) 10:18, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

The failure of negotiation led to permanent division of Korea and the establishment of the ROK; hence it is fundamental to regime change. I don't think the war was regime change; it was regime survival. Rhee's associations are notable. It is also notable that his opponents like Lyuh and Kim Koo were assassinated. He was not simply the guy who won the election.--Jack Upland (talk) 19:56, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

You're missing the point and skipping past the reasons I've explained above. I have nothing to add.Adoring nanny (talk) 20:59, 31 March 2019 (UTC)

What you're claiming about Jack Upland applies to yourself and read about this regime change that did happen, do not double down on your narrative as to not demonstrate that facts/sources about regime change being ignored: United States Army Military Government in Korea — Preceding unsigned comment added by RBL2000 (talk • contribs) 13:49, 13 April 2019 (UTC)

Scope (again)

I want to try to re-animate the discussion from last year here on the scope and focus of this article. The title of the article refers to regime change but the lede and current article seem to include other things, such as regime preservation and election interference. Questions include: 1) should the title change to reflect this wider focus?, or 2) should the lead and article be tightened to keep the focus on the topic signalled by the title? Specifically, 3) should the article include regime preservation (e.g. China 1898, Laos 1955-60)? 4) should it include tussles for imperial territory that didn't involve regime change (e.g. Somoa 1887-89)?, 5) should it include support for liberation from occupying powers (e.g. France 1945, Kuwait 1991)?, and 6) should it include election interference, given that (e.g. Italy 1948+)? If the answer is yes to most of questions 3-6, I'd argue the answer to (1) needs to be yes too. If the answer is no to any of 3-6, we need to make sure appropriate material is moved to Timeline of United States military operations or Foreign interventions by the United States before deletion. In the last discussion, I think three of us argued for removing regime preservation actions and tightening the lede in relation to that, with maybe two editors disagreeing, so not really a consensus. BobFromBrockley (talk) 14:03, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

While I tend to agree with this in principle, I take issue with your removal if the Indonesian mass killings from the lede. This was PART on the regime change action, in fact the most significant part, and facilitated and encouraged by the US and its allies for the express purpose of regime change. Giving it more thought, perhaps this is preferable and provides proper context in terms of the scope of the article, especially given the details of how the US was complicit in this regime change are still provided in the body.--C.J. Griffin (talk) 14:10, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

• According to this Foreign Policy article by Stephen M. Walt, failed attempts at regime change count as involvement in regime change. See its Suez 1950s section and Yemen 1960s section.

  For the US, he names recent scheming in Somalia, Yemen and Syria as involvement in regime change.

GPRamirez5 (talk) 19:04, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

I totally agree that failed attempts at regime change should be included. (Obviously not those two cases, as US wasn't involved, but I don't think that's what you're saying!) My question (3) is about when the US involvement is in regime preservation, successful or failed. BobFromBrockley (talk) 20:22, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

• L.A. O'Rourke's book Covert Regime Change, published by Cornell University Press, includes almost all the Cold War examples here under regime change, as presented on a list on page 3. On page 107, it explicitly says that "In 1947, Truman launched the first preventive regime changes of the Cold War to ensure that communist parties would not win democratic elections in Italy and France." So no, those are regime changes not "regime preservations." GPRamirez5 (talk) 21:04, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

IMO the main thing is that the title should drive the content. The phrase "regime change" denotes a change of the regime. So anything that is unambiguously a change of regime should be included, regardless of whether sources describe it as a liberation, a revolution, a coup, or whatever else. Other things you are arguable, such as whether or not an election is a regime change, whether or not attempted regime change should count, regime preservation, and so forth. So on those issues, the main thing is consistency. I don't think it should depend on finding a source that describes one of the above as "regime change". Just try to treat analogous situations similarly.Adoring nanny (talk) 23:07, 4 April 2019 (UTC)

"I don't think it should depend on finding a source that describes one of the above as 'regime change'" Actually, reliable sources is exactly what it should depend on. Any methodology that doesn't find RS refuting the classifications found in the Walt and O'Rourke scholarship is in violation of WP:VERIFY from the outset.GPRamirez5 (talk) 00:12, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

Verifiability is not about finding particular words. It's about verifiability of events. For example, suppose you find an article that says "Joe shot John. John died of his wounds the next day." It would be entirely correct to write an article that said "Joe killed John", even though the source didn't use the word "killed". Just apply a little WP:COMMON.Adoring nanny (talk) 01:06, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

"Verifiability is not about finding particular words. It's about verifiability of events." That's a distinction without a difference: in encyclopedias, words are how historical events are represented. GPRamirez5 (talk) 01:18, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

Is it your position that if, for example, a source were to say "The X Government of country Y was deposed by a CIA-supported coup", that this would not be a case of US-supported regime change, since neither the phrase "United States" nor the phrase "regime change" appeared?Adoring nanny (talk) 11:38, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

No. But ironically that seems to be your position. GPRamirez5 (talk) 01:23, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time assuming good faith here. What is the value of attacking me for supposedly arguing the opposite of what I have been arguing? Adoring nanny (talk) 09:04, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

I'm sorry if you're feeling attacked, but all I did was answer your question and make an observation about the irony of your thought experiment.GPRamirez5 (talk) 13:19, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

What irony? As I have been arguing, the phrase "regime change" is not relevant. What is relevant is whether or not there was such an event, not the words one uses to describe it. My example was a case of regime change, adequately sourced, but without the phrase. As you appear to agree, at least in the context of the example, the relevance comes from the event, even when the phrase is lacking. If you agree with the example, why the disagreement with saying it in words?Adoring nanny (talk) 14:10, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

Joe killed John. Clearly. GPRamirez, as to that tendency to personalize discussions that I mentioned below. Could you just ... knock it off? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:01, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

@SandyGeorgia: GPRamirez5 has personalized nothing in the discussion above. As to the substantive issue, it's reasonable (and wholly consistent with policy) to consider a foreign policy intervention to be a regime change operation if reliable sources describe it as such. -Darouet (talk) 17:12, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

To summarise the substantive rather than personalised part of this discussion, Adoring nanny argues that we should adopt a consistent approach to what we include, and GPRamirez5 provides a decent source (an academic press book by a political science assistant professor) suggesting what I've called "regime preservation" should be considered "preventative regime change" and therefore included (i.e. an answer of Yes to my question (3) at the start of this talk section). I'm not sure if I understand O’Rourke's idea of "preventative regime change" but it would be good to have more views on this, and views on my other questions. I realise I didn't explain the election interference one (my question 6). What I meant to say was that a change of administration via a democratic election is not generally seen as a regime change, as the regime form remains stable. Again, any views on that? BobFromBrockley (talk) 09:58, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

I'd definitely think that intervening in an election amounts to something like a "regime change operation," and indeed O'Rourke lists Italy among her examples. In that particular case the involvement of the CIA, the clandestine nature of the operation, and the significant sums of money spent all further argue for listing here. -Darouet (talk) 10:19, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

Having two scholarly sourced definitions of regime change does not (yet) convince me, since the possibility of cherrypicking exists-- I'd like to see more sources on which to base this discussion. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:05, 24 April 2019 (UTC)

Venezuela

Jamez42 reverted the addition of post-1998 Venezuela, claiming that "support of opposition is not regime change." Not only is it generally understood to be such, it is widely understood to be the case particularly with the US and Venezuela.. This well-documented material should be restored immediately.GPRamirez5 (talk) 22:59, 14 April 2019 (UTC)

@GPRamirez5: The Venezuelan government has accused the US of attempting a regime change for nearly 20 years. As early as 1999, when there were massive mudslides in the north country during the Vargas tragedy, Chávez rejected help from the United States. There are countless accusations of coup attempts, assassination plots, sabotage, etc, most of the times without providing proof. Sadly this has also been used to dismiss or persecute the opposition, including groups financed by the National Endowment for Democracy, and as a scapegoat for protests. My fear is that due to recentism the section is hastly included; the earliest Venezuelan events that the Bloomberg refers to are from 2018, and parallels are only drawn between government recognition, not regime change. In short, this is a lot different from, say, CIA financement or operations. Please notify me the next time I'm involved in the matter. --Jamez42 (talk) 00:22, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

• "...the earliest Venezuelan events that the Bloomberg refers to are from 2018, and parallels are only drawn between government recognition, not regime change." That is blatantly false Jamez42. The Bloomberg article reads "[Maduro's] critics inside and outside the country have talked for years of regime change."GPRamirez5 (talk) 17:24, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

References

@GPRamirez5: Precisely, that sentence doesn't specify any events either. --Jamez42 (talk) 20:43, 15 April 2019 (UTC)

• And let the record show that contrary to these sad arguments, the source for the section was not Chavez, nor any Chavistas, but The Washington Post, one of the most anti-Chavez organs in the hemisphere.GPRamirez5 (talk) 12:42, 16 April 2019 (UTC)

Defining the arguments as "sad" is unnecessary; I ask you to please refrain from it. The Washington Post details about National Endowment for Democracy, USAID and OTI financement, the recognition of Juan Guaidó and the threat of military intervention, not the "coup attempts, assassination plots, sabotage" that I have explained before; in short, regime change. The article was even written this year, which confirms part of my fear about recentism. Namely, the section focused on Guaidó as the sole leader that arised from the student movements, were there have been several others such as Yon Goicoechea, Stalin González, Freddy Guevara, Miguel Pizarro and Daniel Ceballos. --Jamez42 (talk) 16:55, 16 April 2019 (UTC)

What a flawed argument! It's not about the Washington Post, is about who writes the articles in the Washington Post. Some WaPo contributors, like noname academic Timothy Gill are longtime Chavez fanboys producing dozens of garbage papers that usually get zero academic citations anyway.--ColumbiaXY (talk) 03:45, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

• To clarify, User:James42, in your learned opinion, delegitimizing an established government and threatening it with military invasion do not constitute involvement with regime change. A very unique and telling definition.GPRamirez5 (talk) 01:41, 17 April 2019 (UTC)

Please treat other users with respect. Thank you.Adoring nanny (talk) 02:21, 17 April 2019 (UTC)

No, it doesn't. Quoting from the article's lead, no "alteration, replacement, or preservation" of said foreign government has taken place. I can argue that the United States has not been the only country to not recognize Maduro as the president of Venezuela, if it helps, and it has been discussed in other talk pages how a military invervention is unlikely. Elliott Abrams even admitted in a prank call that he dismisses the option. In any case, if it is argued that these, indeed, constitute involvement in regime change, then it must be reasoned here. Only one of the four paragraphs of the removed section mentioned "delegitimizing an established government and threatening it with military invasion"; the others did no mention of it whatsoever, meaning that if a section of Venezuela is to be included, it should not talk about of all of its 20 recent years. I also ask to please use a more respectful tone not only in your comments, but also your edit summaries, since this isn't the first time that you have used it. --Jamez42 (talk) 12:51, 17 April 2019 (UTC)

• User:Jamez42, I've treated you with the level of respect appropriate to someone who misrepresented the Bloomberg article as not mentioning regime change. I also notice that you misrepresented The Washington Post article as only mentioning Guaido, when in fact it specifically mentions Stalin González and Freddy Guevara as student leaders—and Washington clients.GPRamirez5 (talk) 11:15, 18 April 2019 (UTC)
• And you've just misrepresented the lead by claiming it defines the article with successful alteration of a government, when actually it defines it as operations "aimed at altering, replacing, or preserving foreign governments." The latter is absolutely a description of the US project in Venezuela.GPRamirez5 (talk) 12:43, 18 April 2019 (UTC)

@GPRamirez5: Are you saying I deserve less respect for allegedly "misrepresenting" references? I'm not sure if you claim that I'm offering a wrong interpretation in purpose, but if that's the case you would not be assuming good faith either. You also wrote in your edit summary "Lying is the greatest disrespect"; I believe this isn't the first time you call me a liar, so I ask you again to please stop personalizing the comments, since it only makes the discussion more difficult.

I understand there could have been a confusion that when I mentioned the article, the main space in Wikipedia, I meant the Bloomberg article, but I specified that a section focused about Guaidó, and in my later comments I continued referring the paragraphs of said section and how it includes events since 1999, not only 2019. Again, there should be an agreement that these actions constitute "involvement with regime change", when there wasn't with the removed section. --Jamez42 (talk) 13:47, 18 April 2019 (UTC)

Before the discussion gets any longer: I should leave clear that in any case I think it is WP:TOOSOON to include the section, and from what I'm reading in the talk page it seems my fear of recentism is shared. --Jamez42 (talk) 13:55, 18 April 2019 (UTC)

Summary: someone wrote an entire section around one (demonstrably one-sided and easily refuted) BLOG.[1] And then, to make things even better, put that one blog opinion in Wikipedia's voice, with no attribution as the opinion of one bloke. Someone else rightly removed the text.[2] And the first someone is complaining and using personal attacks along with the complaining. [3]

Who is looking not so good here?

GPRamirez5, your editing habits are coming across my radar all too often. (And I haven't even started with WP:CLOSEPARAPHRASE. Or making personal attacks in edit summaries, which is a whole 'nother level of bad.)

• The U.S. has quietly supported the Venezuelan opposition for years. Gill, Timothy M. Washington Post – Blogs, Washington: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post. Feb 19, 2019. From ProQuest.

SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:55, 19 April 2019 (UTC)

• Dude please. Given that the Post will soon have more digital subscribers than print ones it's time to drop the pretense that its online material is illegitimate, particularly when the author had his research accepted by Georgetown University.GPRamirez5 (talk) 03:43, 19 April 2019 (UTC)

1959 Iraq

The 1959 Iraq section[4] strikes me as speculative and tenuous. I'm not removing it yet, but I'm interested in what others think.Adoring nanny (talk) 01:58, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

RFC on Venezuela

I propose to add text to the article concerning Venezuela (1998-present). GPRamirez5 (talk) 00:05, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

I propose to add the following text to the article:

1998-present:Venezuela

Shortly after Hugo Chávez’s election as president, the US government-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) initiated guidance of Venezuelan political parties towards his defeat. NED agents traveled to Venezuela and met individually with Venezuelan party leaders from the opposition, offering guidance on how to electorally defeat Chávez, construct coalition political platforms and reach out to youth. Stephen Kinzer and other scholars have cited the NED as a successor to the CIA’s regime change programs of the 1960s, dedicated to a neoliberal economic agenda. A coalition of all the main NED funded organizations spearheaded the two-month lockout and production stoppage at Venezuela’s central oil company, which, when it ended in February 2003, had cost the Venezuelan people approximately $10 billion in economic damage as a means of destabilizing the Chavez government. . US diplomats also met with the opposition over the course of a decade to advise strategy against Chavez.

Agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) initiated operations developing neutral-looking organizations in poor neighborhoods focused on community initiatives such as participatory democracy. U.S. ambassador William Brownfield described how USAID/OTI, “directly reached approximately 238,000 adults through over 3,000 forums…providing opportunities for opposition activists to interact with hardcore Chavistas, with the desired effect of pulling them slowly away from Chavismo.”

USAID/OTI also materially supported the recently developed anti-Chávez student movement, which produced the political career of Juan Guaidó and other young opposition leaders. OTI functionaries provided students with resources including paper and microphones, paid for travel expenses, and organized seminars to maximize resistance to the socialist government. According to a Washington Post analysis, “U.S. diplomats regularly met with opposition student leaders who primarily operated in Caracas, discussing plans of action against the Chávez government.”

The campaign against Venezuela’s left-leaning government continued under four US presidents, Most recently, the Trump administration has recognized the opposition leader Juan Guaido as president and openly threatened to launch military action to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro.

References

GPRamirez5 (talk) 00:05, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Support new text

• I'm not sure why there is even debate about this, other than WP:STONEWALLING and anti-Chavez POV. Even this mainstream book on Venezuela acknowledges:

  Felix Rodriguez, a former CIA operative and influential Bush supporter in south Florida, claimed in an interview with Miami’s Channel 22 that the administration has “contingency plans.” When pressed to explain, Rodriguez said the plans “could be economic measures and even military measures.” Rodriguez and his views must be taken seriously…it is not as if the Venezuelan leader is unjustified in feeling paranoid. In the run up to the April 2002 coup d'etat against the Chavez regime, the Bush administration funneled US taxpayer money to the Venezuelan opposition through the National Endowment for Democracy.

GPRamirez5 (talk) 00:10, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

• Support. Frankly I'm surprised there isn't already a section on Venezuela and the presented text looks like a good and well-referenced start. I've browsed the discussion on this matter that appeared earlier on this talk page and the objection on the grounds of 'recentism' is, I feel, bogus. Oska (talk) 02:20, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
• Support — this is an important addition to the article.--Jack Upland (talk) 08:01, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
• Support, although I would imagine that such a section should include more mention of the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt. _signed, Rosguill ^talk 19:06, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
• Support — As editors have already mentioned, this is well-referenced and fills an important gap in the article as it currently stands. I don't think WP:TOOSOON applies here at all; US involvement in regime change in Venezuela is clearly notable based on its coverage in the sources listed, among others. I agree with Rosguill that the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt would be useful to include. I also did some minor copyediting of the text, which you can see here. Hope it helps. — cmonghost 👻 (talk) 18:29, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

Oppose

• Oppose as written I am not opposed to having a section on Venezuela. However, as written, the proposal is inconsistent with WP:NPOV. In addition to the problem of ignoring the rest of the world, which I discuss below, Obama didn't sanction Venezuela until it started shooting demonstrators. So it's really accurate to say the campaign against Venezuela "continued" under Obama; rather, he put an end to it until the shootings and similar outrages.Adoring nanny (talk) 13:07, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

@Adoring nanny: A start has to be made and, in my opinion, this is a decent start. Edits (and discussion of edits) to the proposed text can be made once the text is added (as is, of course, usual wikipedia practice). Previously added sections on Venezuela have been removed completely rather than an attempt being made to find a good compromise text. It's important that this article has a section on Venzuela (as you agree) and so we must make a start otherwise GPRamirez5's charge of stonewalling would appear to have some validity. Oska (talk) 09:46, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

I suspect the stonewalling charge does not pertain to me. Typically in this type of RfC, the creator is willing to make adjustments in response to reasonable criticisms. This time, the opposite appears to be the case, which is concerning as I imagine the resistance would be likely to continue after insertion, resulting in an unfortunate situation. I made considerable efforts below to get a more acceptable text, which as you can see went nowhere. Had they been successful, I would have supported.Adoring nanny (talk) 11:44, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

• Oppose in current form Can't find much supporting evidence for claims in sections 2 & 3, detailing the USAID & OTI involvement. I'm also highly skeptical of Timothy M. Gill and his attempts at substituting verbosity for scholarship. He has more than 2 dozen borderline irrelevant papers on Venezuela & Lat Am that have failed to make a noteworthy impact in the research community. More reliable research should be used for claims like those proposed for inclusion in the article.--ColumbiaXY (talk) 03:36, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

@ColumbiaXY: For supporting info on USAID and OTI, the WaPo article links to this article, written by Gill and Rebecca Hanson, another academic researching Latin America. They conducted interviews with USAID/OTI employees and contractors through their research. There is also this William Brownfield cable released by Wikileaks outlining USAID/OTI goals, which related directly to weakening and dividing chavismo. Your criticism of Gill doesn't seem particularly substantive; his work has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals and has been cited by other researchers, clear indicators that his work is being taken up by others. — cmonghost 👻 (talk) 13:31, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

• Oppose Besides the recentism and neutrality issues pointed out in the past, the section is vague and broad regarding the reported involvement of the United States. For example, the section mentions the 2002 oil strike and the student movement, but it doesn't mention that, at first, the purpose of the strike was to protest against the firing of oil executives (which Chávez even admitted later that he abused power) and that the latter sought to protest against the closure of one of Venezuela's oldest television stations, Radio Caracas Televisión, as well as a constitutional referendum that would have allowed indefinite presidential reelection. This is opposition to the government, but not regime change. It's also important to note that foreign funding of political parties and NGOs was prohibited in 2010, which mean there hasn't be financing ever since. The section is based mostly in the position of a single author Timothy M. Gill, as well as opinion articles, which makes me worry about cherrypicking and the need of secondary sources. Without going into detail about which opposition parties or non-government organizations have been funded, like it is done in the Poland and Yugoslavia sections, as well as its efforts, can lead to a worrying oversimplification.

Chávez has been accusing the US of conspiring to carry out a coup, an invasion or an assassination, which means that allegations of US involvement and fearmongering aren't new; the thing is that most of the time it's only that, accusations and allegations. The articles describes mostly involvement in coups, discredit campaigns, electoral intervention or financement, military interventions, assassinations, weapon assistance, etc, but most importantly, actual regime change. This is not the case in Venezuela. Even if this involvement is politically or electorally indirect, like I've mentioned, the extent of its effects on regime change is disputed, or even if it can be considered as such. Pinging editors involved in previous discussions: @BobFromBrockley and SandyGeorgia:--Jamez42 (talk) 18:40, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Discussion

The last paragraph should note that most of Europe and South America followed the US lead.Adoring nanny (talk) 23:13, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

It doesn't seem to be noted in the relevant source material.GPRamirez5 (talk) 01:07, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

It took me about 30 seconds to find this via Google.[5] I'm sure there are better sources, and frankly they can't be hard to find.Adoring nanny (talk) 03:08, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

I see, but that Times article also notes the neutrality of the United Nations and the position of China. If we're noting every third party then we're starting a tangent that's non-encyclopedic. The relevant matter is the United States-Venezuela relationship.GPRamirez5 (talk) 13:56, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

The problem is that you make it look like some unilateralist thing, which it isn't. See Responses to the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis. No one has objected to mentioning British and Canadian involvement in the liberation of Western Europe, or the 34-country coalition for Desert Storm, so it's not just the Venezuela portion.Adoring nanny (talk) 02:39, 3 July 2019 (UTC)

Well then I'll object to it now. Third parties shouldn't be mentioned unless necessary. The US is the world's only superpower, it goes without saying that many countries would follow its lead for political reasons. The US has a track record of using its power and privilege to coerce other countries' foreign policy in these matters, so we should avoid WP:UNDUE emphasis on it.GPRamirez5 (talk) 05:52, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

"Obama didn't sanction Venezuela until it started shooting demonstrators." That's an dubious point User:Adoring nanny. Do you have any theories as to why Obama did not sanction Saudi Arabia for shooting demonstrators in Bahrain, or bombing masses of civilians in Yemen? Or perhaps on why he did not sanction Colombia for its links to death squads that kill dozens of union leaders and journalists every year? GPRamirez5 (talk) 14:16, 5 July 2019 (UTC)

Whataboutism. --Jamez42 (talk) 17:12, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Actually you and the Nanny would seem to be engaging in the "whataboutism" Jamez42, using recent Venezuelan abuses to excuse US subversion which was already well underway.GPRamirez5 (talk) 20:52, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Continue with personal attacks and I will start a complaint in the admin's noticeboard. You have already been warned in the past about this and it is already a long lasting behavior. --Jamez42 (talk) 21:03, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Let me point out additionally that there is nothing to impugn about the scholarship of Timothy Gill. Anyone who has an issue should take it up with The Washington Post and the University of Pittsburgh Press who've published this research by him. They can also take it up with Johns Hopkins University Press and Oxford University Press, who've published the other sources.GPRamirez5 (talk) 16:51, 6 July 2019 (UTC)

Thought I would note a reference I saw just today indicating a general recognition of US regime change campaigns against Venezuela (4th element in list):

> In concrete terms, this means the Quincy Institute will likely advocate a withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and Syria; a return to the nuclear deal with Iran; less confrontational approaches to Russia and China; an end to regime-change campaigns against Venezuela and Cuba; and sharp reductions in the defense budget.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/06/30/soros-and-koch-brothers-team-end-forever-war-policy/WhyENwjhG0vfo9Um6Zl0JO/story.html

Oska (talk) 12:53, 2 July 2019 (UTC)