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It was the dark fantasy of the Bolivarian movement, a apocalyptic scenario spun so frequently – every telling wilder than the previous one – until it nearly turned into a joke: the Yankees are coming.

Hugo Chávez, who governed Venezuela from 1999 to 2013, warned of this possibility again and again, insisting that the US president and his henchmen in the CIA and Pentagon were plotting a strike.

Covert agents, disruptors, hitmen, special forces, mercenaries, missiles, poison, submarines, fighter planes – the superpower would use every tool to smite Venezuela’s political system and topple its leader.

“Is it so far-fetched that they developed the technology to induce illness and we wouldn't discover about it for 50 years?” Chávez reportedly stated in 2011, while undergoing treatment for cancer.

It was, in large part, theatre. A constructed narrative to excuse centralized power, strengthen anti-US standing and discredit dissent. In later years, even some supporters rolled their eyes at stories of the imperialist threat.

Rhetoric Meets Reality

However, today, over a decade after an ailing Chávez passed power to his protege, Nicolás Maduro, the long-held fear is actual. On Saturday American military units struck Caracas and captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores – the foreign force of Chávez’s rhetoric made manifest.

During the stunned reaction and questions about what happens next, there is a bizarre irony. For years, the ruling ideology – the ideology bequeathed by the late president – overstated the US threat in order to warn of nonexistent dangers. When the wolf showed up, he turned out to be an US counterpart of Chávez.

Parallels in Strongman Tactics

The former US president's populist authoritarianism echoes the Venezuelan strongman: both masters of thunder and dazzle who deeply divided electorates, silenced criticism and co-opted state bodies. The real estate mogul naturally varies in myriad ways from an army officer who adopted anti-capitalist policies – but his ability to exploit popular discontent, break norms, monopolize attention and govern through media spectacle are reminiscent of Chavismo.

The paradox is profound that the most dramatic act of this presidency is the action to seize Maduro. As international law lies in shreds, and Venezuelans oscillate from hope and dread, history has completed a bizarre circularity.

Background of Allegations and Interventions

Two decades ago, George W. Bush’s administration gave quiet support to a political uprising that for a short time displaced Chávez – a action that evoked memories to the cold war era, when the CIA destabilized progressive governments across Latin America.

The leader, backed by barrio-dwellers and the military, was restored, won fresh electoral mandates and spent the following years mocking Bush as a donkey, a cowboy, a devil. Following the American military action in the Middle East – rationalized through inaccurate intelligence about Iraq's military capabilities – many around the world echoed Chávez’s view of the US president.

The leader frequently alleged of US conspiracies against him. In light of historical attempts and American armed actions in Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989, a operation against Venezuela was conceivable. But none came. The US continued to import Venezuela’s oil and took no direct action while Chávez weakened his nation's finances.

Maduro Continues the Narrative

Maduro, assuming power in 2013, continued the fiction of an imminent US military threat. With the economy cratering and popular support fading, Maduro had to engage in vote fraud to retain control – and a external menace was a crucial tool.

More recently, the US figure employed exaggerations and falsehoods. He accused Maduro of heading a “narco-terrorist” cartel that was “flooding” the US with drugs – an expansion of Venezuela’s role as a conduit for illicit substances.

Declarations of Victory and Control

“This was one of the most stunning, successful and dominant displays of American military might and skill in American history,” was publicly claimed. “No country in the world could execute what the United States achieved.”

The operation interrupted energy to Caracas thanks “through particular skills that we have”, enabling a smooth action that evicted a tyrant, was stated.

Symbolically, Chávez must have spun. He often attributed electricity failures – the result of a dilapidated infrastructure – on imperialist plots. He frequently argued the gringo superpower wished to revive a 19th-century doctrine of American dominance, and here was a proclamation of “hegemony”.

This includes the US managing Venezuela for an unspecified duration. “The United States will govern until such time as we can do a secure, appropriate and measured transition,” the position declared. He added: “We’re going to have our very large US petroleum corporations... begin operations, invest heavily, overhaul the failing systems, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”

Uncertainty and a New Chapter

The political landscape was further clouded by comments about working alongside figures from the ousted administration.

Citizens, including the exiles abroad, are now discovering if they have emerged from a political delirium or entered a new phase of foreign administration.