Diosdado Cabello Defies U.S. Threats, Awakens Memories of Noriega's 'Machete'

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, a high-ranking official in the regime of Nicolás Maduro, was defiant on Wednesday when speaking before party loyalists in Caracas, reawakening an unforgettable moment in the history of Latin American politics in the 20th century.

Cabello unsheathed a machete during a public rally on Wednesday while standing in front of a larger-than-life image of Latin American independence hero Simón Bolívar.

Cabello then raised the weapon above his head, declaring it a "guerrilla saber", a conspicuously timed reference to the "nationwide" counterinsurgency effort and the activation of the "territorial militias" in preparation for a possible military intervention by U.S. forces.

Cabello has spent recent months on a non-stop PR campaign to rally government loyalists and Chavistas against the large-scale deployment of U.S. military assets around the Venezuelan coast.

Cabello, one of the main subjects of accusations by the U.S. State Department, which has alleged that top officials of the regime in Caracas and high-ranking heads of the Venezuelan Armed Forces have colluded in a multinational criminal drug and human trafficking enterprise called the Cartel of the Suns.

The interior minister has denied such allegations, arguing that officials in Washington are spreading lies to advance "imperial" ambitions, vying for the region's natural resources in both gold and oil.

A claim that Maduro and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have both echoed in recent weeks.

On Monday, Cabello vowed to supporters that the U.S. will not get a "single drop of oil", calling the North Americans a "perverse empire."

Diosdado Cabello then followed up those statements by directly challenging the Trump administration on Wednesday with machete in hand, promising that Venezuelans will meet their adversaries in "battle and victory."

Social media boiled over with the historical irony of an almost identical gesture made by former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who posed a similar challenge to the Reagan administration in April of 1988, declaring:

"This machete represents the dignity and courage of the Panamanian people.' It says, 'not one step back.''

Washington sought Noriega's ouster "since his supporters in the National Assembly removed President Eric Arturo Delvalle from his largely ceremonial post Feb. 26, [1988]", wrote UPI.

Noriega was also accused of drug trafficking and of committing hostile actions towards U.S. military personnel.

Critics of U.S. hegemony in the region argue that Noriega was no longer useful to the Washington foreign policy machine pulling the strings in Central America, and when his time ran out, the administration pulled the rug out from under him.

Noriega, when speaking to a crowd of supporters and delegates at a summit of Latin American "solidarity" in the face of growing U.S. pressure, warned that "Here in Panama today there is a testing ground" for U.S. efforts to destabilize or overthrow Latin American governments in the region, adding, "Today it is Panama, tomorrow it will be Honduras and the day after that Argentina."

Later in December of 1988, U.S. forces invaded Panama as part of 'Operation Just Cause' after Noriega was indicted on drug trafficking charges by a grand jury in Miami, Florida.

A month after the U.S. invasion, Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces.