Maduro in U.S. hands: Trump’s gamble, is China’s blow
Source: NEOS KOSMOS
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was abducted, or detained, by Delta Force and is on U.S. soil. Many commentators have rushed to publish articles explaining what happened, or more accurately, how they interpret the latest developments.
What has taken place constitutes a major challenge to the BRICS countries, and above all to China, which unsettled the West –and especially the United States– with the military parade it staged last year.
Trump’s hemisphere
What has unfolded in Venezuela also represents a complete collapse of any notion of international law and morality. For the United States itself, the actions sanctioned by President Trump were carried out without congressional approval –as required by the U.S. Constitution– and may violate U.S. law in relation to what was done, and continues to be done, in Venezuela. The administration is hiding behind a thin veil that this was a police action, carrying out an arrest warrant, not an act of war, and thus does not need congressional approval. Sophisms.
It all began with the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and later Libya—developments that opened the door for Putin, and now Trump. For a long time, Trump has accused Maduro of leading a narco-trafficking network, an allegation Maduro himself has vehemently denied. The fact that the U.S. is the biggest market and racks up the greatest demand for cocaine is hardly discussed. Maduro may derive significant benefits from the narco-traffickers, but he’s hardly much more than a corrupt leader. The irony is that Trump recently granted a pardon to Juan Hernández, president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022 – although Hernández was running a drug operation while he was in office.
Delta Force pulled Maduro out of bed, blindfolded him, and shackled his hands. He then spent the following night in prison in Brooklyn, New York. Yes, of course, Maduro, an average student, left his country for a period and trained in Cuba, returned to Venezuela, became a bus driver, then union leader for the bus drivers, was a Chavez loyalist, and on his death, Maduro became an unrestrained and corrupt tyrant. Regardless, what took place is unacceptable. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of a “significant development.” The prime minister of Greece said much the same, even adding that this was not the appropriate moment to comment on the legality of the intervention. One is left to wonder: do these two truly grasp what is unfolding? Worse, is that they do, and realise that nothing they say or do will restrain Trump.
In my view, the illegal action by the U.S. in Venezuela reveals Trump’s deeper intentions – he does not want China to emerge as the dominant power in Panama, Venezuela, or the broader region. Trump is at best an unusual president, but one who can now claim that Maduro was removed from power, and will face legal judgment; he didn’t meet the fate of Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi.
Beijing relied heavily on subsidised Venezuelan crude oil; it had extended massive loans to Maduro’s state, and carried out major infrastructure projects.
China, however, is the real loser. Beijing relied heavily on subsidised Venezuelan crude oil; it had extended massive loans to Maduro’s state, and carried out major infrastructure projects. China has now been confronted with the daunting reality that American power remains unshakable, whether exercised through diplomacy or military force. The U.S., of course, wants to reclaim the assets of major American corporations that were seized by Caracas in the past. Trump plainly wants to turn a profit for the companies and access the largest oil reserves in the world.
America needs Venezuela’s oil reserves, as well as its gold and lithium. The U.S. needs that wealth, in its own neighbourhood, to flow into the New York Stock Exchange. It will also help reduce the huge fiscal deficit – spending exceeds federal revenues, and the national debt continues to grow.
Pax America returns, rules optional
For many Americans, Trump is a great leader; for others, he is not. Perhaps, with Trump in the White House, the world is returning to Pax America, the New Rome. The remnants of the Cold War, where the Soviets, China, and other non-aligned states were pitted against the U.S. and its Western allies. Trump’s actions also echo the Monroe Doctrine (1823), the U.S. policy that asserted dominance in the Western Hemisphere and warned European powers against interference. Now the Trump approach is warning China, and Russia as well as letting Europe know, that the U.S. has no qualms about breaking a few or many eggs to get what it wants. The U.S. restores its prestige through sheer power, the MAGA movement, and the president himself, with his enormous ego, can pump his chest. Yet, international law cannot be overridden in this manner by the architect of the post-war rules-based order, the U.S. Doing so harms weaker countries and vulnerable citizens.
The next stop for Delta Force and the CIA will be Greenland –again under the cover of night– to keep China away from America’s backyard. The United States has no intention of handing the sceptre to China for the next hundred years.
China’s power –dealt a severe blow by what happened, and what is to come in Venezuela– and the effectiveness of Delta Force, the CIA, and the U.S. Armed Forces in an operation involving a fleet of ships and 150 aircraft that left the world in awe. This was a sharp jab straight at Beijing’s elite. Why? Because China is the target of “Trumpian nationalism,” and the real boss controlling 25 per cent of the global economy is using Nicolás Maduro as the medium, the geopolitical stakes could not be higher.
*Dimitris Eleas is a political scientist, writer and independent researcher living in New York.
The original article: belongs to NEOS KOSMOS .
