Troika of tyranny

[1] Bolton has alternately described the three countries as the "triangle of terror"[2] and the "three stooges of socialism",[3] stating that the three are "the cause of immense human suffering, the impetus of enormous regional instability, and the genesis of a sordid cradle of communism in the western hemisphere".

[1] Bolton praised the elections of right-wing presidents in Latin America including Ivan Duque of Colombia and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.

"[7] According to The Wall Street Journal, Venezuela is not the only policy concern for the United States, but also Cuba, whose "intelligence is deeply integrated in the Venezuelan military and the security apparatus of the Maduro government", and the strengthening ties between both countries, as well as Russia, China and Iran.

[4] South American is a source of Iran's financial backing of Hezbollah, and Venezuelan Minister of Labor Tareck El Aissami allegedly helped provide them the means to launder money through Venezuela.

[8] The United States has condemned actions of the governments of the three Latin American nations and has maintained both broad and targeted sanctions against their leadership.

[6] New sanctions against Cuba were intended to "ratchet up U.S. pressure on Havana to end its support for Venezuela's socialist president, Nicolás Maduro", according to Reuters press agency.

However, the move soon received criticism from US allies, as companies within their nations that operate amicably in Cuba would be negatively affected, too; the Cuban government said that the measures were "an attack on international law".

[9][11][12] Bolton said in November 2018 that the Trump administration policy would be to place sanctions on Venezuela until it releases political prisoners, permits the entrance of humanitarian aid, holds free elections and upholds democracy and the rule of law.

The main sanctions to all three nations were announced on 17 April 2019 by Bolton and included a large-scale rollback of President Barack Obama's policies on Cuba–Venezuela relations.

In the same address, Bolton gave implicit threats to Cuban and Russian security forces operating within Venezuela;[3][8] he warned "all external actors, including Russia" not to support the Maduro administration.

[6] The Guardian described the November 2018 speech used by Bolton as "bellicose" and that such statements were "likely to stoke growing fears in Latin America that Washington could recruit rightwing governments in Brazil and Colombia to take military action against Venezuela".

[3] Reuters reported that the April 2019 announcement "drew swift criticism from European and Canadian allies, whose companies have significant interests in Cuba".