Afrasianet - Nisreen Malik - Trump's attack on Venezuela has not only broken the rules, but also shown that there are no rules at all. We will all regret it.
The British newspaper "The Guardian" publishes an op-ed that examines the shift of American policy from justifying hegemony to its naked practice, through the example of the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the American control of Venezuela without any legal, moral, or even narrative cover.
The following is the text of the article:
It's not just about bragging about the White House. Leaders who are reluctant to oppose these criminal practices should consider what this behavior would look like in the eyes of Putin and Xi, and in the eyes of the UAE's leaders.
It never occurred to me to look back on the Iraq war, and foreign invasions in the context of what has been commonly called the "war on terror", with some nostalgia, to a time when serious attempts were made to justify unilateral interventions and illegal wars in the name of global security, or even as a moral imperative aimed at "liberating the women of Afghanistan" or "liberating the Iraqi people".
Today, with the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the U.S. taking control of Venezuela, there is almost no effort to justify this coup with logic that goes beyond pure U.S. interests. Gone are the days when the United States sought to convince the world that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, despite lacking any reliable intelligence at the time.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Maduro had "messed around and discovered the truth," adding, "America can impose its will anywhere and anytime." President Donald Trump also stated that the United States would now "manage" Venezuela, saying, "We will have a presence in Venezuela in terms of oil."
The U.S. president made little effort to justify the seizure. Maduro is allegedly guilty of "drug-related terrorism," along with other charges that include "conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States," charges that amount to invasion and kidnapping, and Trump himself does not seem to take them seriously.
Others accused of drug offenses, including former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, as well as Ross Ulbricht and Larry Hoover, were pardoned after being released from life sentences after being convicted of drug trafficking, among other charges.
The crux of the matter, as illustrated by the triumphant social media posts, including videos accompanied by hip-hop music depicting Trump as a gang leader, is to torpedo the idea that the actions of the United States are subject to the principle of due process. Venezuela's coup is not a show of the rule of law, but proof that the United States sees itself as the law itself, not subject to any higher authority. It is capable of employing its immense and lethal power under the cover of darkness, killing dozens of innocent people without being able to do so. You face any consequences, not to mention any accountability or blame.
The feedback so far has proven this to be true. These extraordinary scenes, actions and statements are treated as normal, because of the dull and hesitant attitudes we are used to hearing. Many politicians and heads of state have engaged in the kind of weak and contradictory statements they resort to when their diplomacy collides with the fact that their allies have lost their minds. Keir Starmer says the situation is "evolving rapidly" and that he will "verify all the facts," just as the "facts" are presented to Maduro in Brooklyn. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen insists that she "I have been following the situation in Venezuela closely... Any solution must respect international law and the UN Charter." Kaia Callas, the EU's foreign policy chief, assures us that the EU is "watching the situation closely", as is the Australian government and others.
What the public will be reminded again and again, as soon as there are no additional "facts" to verify or "developments" to follow, is that Maduro was a very bad man. Even when the importance of international law is emphasized, it comes with a condemnation of Maduro. The British Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, always advances this campaign with this ideal logic. On the first point, she tweeted, she said: "The UK has consistently rejected the legitimacy of Nicolás Maduro and called for a peaceful transfer of power in Venezuela." "As the prime minister has made clear, we support international law, and our collective focus must now be on achieving a peaceful transition to a democratic government," she added. What is striking here is the absence of any recognition of a violation of international law, or the identification of the party who violated it, in favor of merely declaring its support, without any practical guarantees for its implementation.
The conclusion is that we are approaching a decisive year. The Venezuelan incident will undermine the remnants of the pretense of a genuine will to defend the norms that are supposed to undermine global security, and the belief that there are material, political, or social consequences, that deter the seizure or annexation of territory or regime change. The world is prepared for such a moment. The Middle East is a constant hotbed of tension, turning into an arena of competition among the rising Gulf states, and is increasingly disrupted by the unruly United States and Israel. This is evident in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.
This may seem like a fleeting flash on the news map, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE, once close allies with growing regional ambitions, are now facing a tense situation over Yemen and the parties they support in the conflict there. The escalation of rhetoric and military action, particularly the Saudi attack on a shipment of Emirati combat vehicles bound for Yemen, allegedly endangering Saudi national security, is an unprecedented front in the Gulf.
The UAE's new and controversial imperialist role in the region and beyond, particularly in the brutal war in Sudan, has fueled this chaos, adding to the list of countries facing little repercussions. On the other side of the Gulf, protests in Iran have entered their second week and have already captured the attention of Trump, who has threatened further strikes, making the prospect of US-led regime change there on the table again. Trump's threat to annex Greenland, in a scene that reflects the breadth and danger of this trend.
• Source: The Guardian
