Trump’s Venezuela Coup: The World in Shock
The entire world will be shaken with dread and discontent at the sacking of Venezuela’s hardline socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, and his reported detention by invading US forces. The coup is not legal, unfair, and is causing instability both locally and internationally. It breaches sovereign territorial rights, violates international rules, and might even lead to anarchy within Venezuela. It is a policy built on chaos. However, Donald Trump claims that this is the reality in which we currently live.
Trump’s Venezuela Coup: Oil, Power, and the Shadow of the Iraq War
Trump threatened military attacks against Iran, another unpopular anti-Western state, the same week that he launched a direct attack on Venezuela, marking an unprecedented and dangerous display of unchecked US power. It comes after months of mounting political, military, and economic pressure from the US on Maduro, which included deadly attacks on suspected drug smugglers’ boats. Trump says he is taking action to stop an alleged flood of “criminal” migrants and to stop illegal drugs from entering the United States through Venezuela. He is also charged with lusting for Venezuela’s vast oil and gas reserves, which are echoed by the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. The accusations are supported by the US’s repeated, unlawful seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers.
Trump’s Venezuela Coup: The Monroe Doctrine Reborn Through Force
However, Trump’s main goals seem to be personal resentment of Maduro and a wish to resurrect the Monroe Doctrine of the 19th century by establishing US domination and influence across the West. Leaders in the region, particularly Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, who has been at odds with Trump in recent months, greeted the coup with concern and anger, likely due to their own fear of falling prey to Washington’s fierce new dominance. There is especially reason to be concerned about Cuba’s left-wing administration. It is largely dependent on the Venezuelan government for both political and economic support, as well as inexpensive energy.
Echoes of the 1989 Panama Invasion
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has made no secret of his desire for a change of government in Havana. Anxiety will be running high in Panama as well. Regarding the sovereignty of the Panama Canal, Trump has previously threatened military action there. In fact, Maduro’s purported abduction brings to mind the US invasion of Panama in 1989, which resulted in the overthrow and incarceration of Manuel Noriega, the country’s then-dictator.
Both Washington’s democratic friends and authoritarian, anti-democratic governments worldwide will be closely monitoring Trump’s future moves. Iran denounced the coup. It has excellent reason to be afraid. The defenestration of his Venezuelan buddy, however, may not entirely anger Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s Venezuela Coup and the Ukraine Parallel
Trump’s unjustified use of force is not all that dissimilar from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Both have unlawfully attacked a neighboring nation and attempted to overthrow its government. Trump has just established a precedent that China’s Xi Jinping, whose soldiers were practicing military action against Taiwan’s “separatists” last week, may be happy to follow in the future. Western democracies, the EU, and Britain are all quite concerned about Trump’s coup.
They must and need to denounce it categorically. The norms and values of the international order that they cherish are immediately challenged. Once more, the US has disregarded the UN and conventional means of resolving disputes between states. Additionally, it appears to be operating with little consideration for what may happen in Venezuela in the future.
Despite the decapitation of the Caracas administration, other prominent members of the dictatorship seem to still be in power. They are calling for opposition and possibly even reprisal against the United States. Unverified reports of civilian casualties exist. Public order could break down in the event of a power vacuum, potentially leading to a military coup or civil war. Furthermore, it’s uncertain whether the most recent US military activity has concluded or if it will escalate.
Trump’s Venezuela Coup: The Myth of Trump the ‘Peacemaker’
It is foolish to assume that true democracy will now be restored and that exiled opposition leaders, like María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, will return quickly. The next few days will be crucial. And Trump is ultimately responsible. Trump’s rash decision should put an end to his consistently false portrayal of himself as a “global peacemaker.” The time has come for Keir Starmer and other European politicians to openly acknowledge him as a worldwide threat and warmaker. The pursuit of fair and sustainable peace is hampered every time he barges loudly into conflict areas, like Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Palestine, setting deadlines, giving ultimatums, picking favorites, and making money off of suffering.
It makes sense that peace is difficult to achieve. Strangely, Trump goes to war with the world while pretending to be a non-interventionist and a disinterested peacemaker. According to surveys, the US carried out a record number of airstrikes in the Middle East and Africa last year. Since taking office again a year ago, peace-loving Trump has bombed Yemen, killing a large number of civilians after relaxing the rules of engagement; bombed Nigeria, with unintended consequences; bombed Somalia, Iraq, and Syria; and bombed Iran, deceitfully inflating the success of US strikes on nuclear facilities. He even won’t rule out hitting Denmark, a NATO partner, or Greenland, which is a sovereign nation.
Unpredictability as Foreign Policy
What is going through Trump’s mind? According to a benign interpretation, he has no concept of what he is doing in matters of war and peace—no strategy, no clue—and he makes up policy as he goes along based on his emotions. According to the dark interpretation, he is fully aware of what he is doing and that worse is on the horizon. Similar to other second-term presidents who ran out of options at home, Trump believes there are more opportunities to use his ego and authority on the international scene.
He is creating a blood legacy. Trump’s dangerously unpredictable and careless actions are becoming quantifiably worse. He might try more and bigger, insane outrages as a result of his “success” in Venezuela. He struts and preens, wailing like Mark Antony without the toga and intellect! Let’s let the dogs of war loose as well.