Vice President Richard nixon gets killed by an angry mob during a trip to Venezuela (1958)

As the title says Nixon is in a diplomatic trip to south america (May 13, 1958 four months after Marcos Perez Jimenez escape), while his stay in Venezuela his car gets attack by several communist mobs, what could be the response by the american government if this attacks get out of control and Nixon dies?
 
The US declares war on Venezuela. You kill our VP and, whether or not we like him, your country gets acquainted with our military. And the cold war gets hot.
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
As the title says Nixon is in a diplomatic trip to south america (May 13, 1958 four months after Marcos Perez Jimenez escape), while his stay in Venezuela his car gets attack by several communist mobs, what could be the response by the american government if this attacks get out of control and Nixon dies?
America gets explicitly and openly more involved in anti-Communist activities in Venezuela, and the Government gets a lot of funds. The Junta may use this as a way to avoid the upcoming elections, though this is unlikely, IMO. It has interesting implications on the 1958 election; the Punto Fijo Pact will likely push harder against the Communists, and post-election would likely see a sharp crackdown on the illegal CPV. It's possible that Americas may send Military Advisors to held the Venezuelan Military in this regard, though I'm unsure of the plausibility of such an outcome.
There was no 25th amendment yet
Yes.

Usually when someone writes that, they use it to establish something before they actually write a scenario. It's not helpful to just point this out without further commentary.
The US declares war on Venezuela. You kill our VP and, whether or not we like him, your country gets acquainted with our military. And the cold war gets hot.
Just no.
 
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The US declares war on Venezuela. You kill our VP and, whether or not we like him, your country gets acquainted with our military. And the cold war gets hot.

The US has never declared war since World War II, and would certainly not do so against Venezuela, since it was obvious that the ruling military junta was not behind the assassination. (Indeed, its own Foreign Minister in OTL came closer to being killed than Nixon! "Flying glass wounded the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, who sat next to VP Nixon, but the Nixons were not hurt..." http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/159218) This is not to say that the US would not use military force if the government of Venezuela showed itself incapable of tracking down and punishing the killers. But it would emphasize that the force was not directed against the Venezuelan government or people.

Remember the US didn't even declare war against the Taliban government of Afghanistan after 9/11..
 
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