Few people in Venezuela will rue the fall of Nicolás Maduro, the brutal and kleptocratic dictator who drove the world’s most oil-rich nation into deep poverty and hyperinflation.

The answer to what comes next for Venezuelans – direct American rule, a return to democracy or more Chavismo – a form of left-wing populism advocated by Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez – is only to be found somewhere in the thicket of mood swings, knee-jerks and grudges that populate Donald Trump’s brain.

Across the West, there’s a search for the meaning and implications of this radical departure from what was previously Maga’s declared opposition to foreign adventurism.

While the consequences for South America, Greenland and Denmark are uppermost, the impact on Russia has been under-discussed. Like Trump’s tactics or loathe them, one positive development is that Vladimir Putin has just lost yet another friend in his alliance of dictatorships.

Putin and Maduro were close partners. When Maduro stole elections, Russia provided him with political cover. When Russia mounted its second invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Maduro reciprocated by publicly backing the war.

Nor was their........

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