Meet the new Western double standards, same as the old ones |
Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela, with pictures of Nicolás Maduro and Hugo Chávez. Photo by Wilfredor/Wikimedia Commons.
If Western politicians truly cared about upholding international law, the recent US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and attacks on Venezuelan territory would have sparked an outpouring of indignation. Such outrage was understandably on display when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. At that time, Western leaders were eager to present themselves as the most ardent defenders of international law in response to Moscow’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty.
Yet while international law is enforced strictly against the ‘bad guys,’ comparable violations by the ‘good guys,’ justified as serving a supposedly righteous cause, are met with indulgence. With regard to recent events in Venezuela, Prime Minister Mark Carney, having condemned the Maduro regime for breaches of international law, posted on X on January 3 that “The Canadian government therefore welcomes the opportunity for freedom, democracy, peace, and prosperity for the Venezuelan people.” This without mentioning the fact that Trump’s actions were themselves a grave breach of the international law that Carney, and by extension Canada, claims to uphold. Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre went further, stating in a post on X that same day, “Congratulations to President Trump on successfully arresting narco-terrorist and socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro, who should live out his days in prison.”
While we might dismiss Poilievre’s cheerleading as the sort of thing one might expect of a Conservative leader in opposition, Carney’s response has more significance because it is the response of the government. Carney is not alone in tacitly condoning Trump’s actions because he sees them, at least in part, as having been carried out in the name of a good cause. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was also unwilling to simply come out and condemn the US action for what it was—a clear breach of international law—