The Forgotten Visionary of U.S. War in Latin America

An illustration shows an eye under a camo helmet peeking through jungle foliage. Argument

The Forgotten Visionary of U.S. War in Latin America

Lucius Shepard’s hallucinogenic stories anticipated Trump’s war fantasies. November 7, 2025, 2:15 PM Comment icon View Comments ( )

As Donald Trump threatens to attack Venezuela and U.S. forces murder fishermen in the Caribbean, I found myself thinking of a brilliant, nearly forgotten U.S. author, Lucius Shepard, and his uncanny 1980s tales of near-future wars.

In short stories like “R&R” and “Salvador,” Shepard, who died in 2014, depicts the United States launching a Central American conflict that has turned into a second Vietnam. It’s a sprawling, endless war where U.S. soldiers massacre villagers while high on government-pro