Trump’s coup in Venezuela didn’t just break the rules – it showed there aren’t any. We’ll all regret that |
I never thought it possible that you could look back on the Iraq war, and the foreign invasions of the “war on terror” in general, and feel some measure of nostalgia. For a time when there were at least concerted attempts to justify unilateral interventions and illegal wars in the name of global security, and even a moral duty to liberate the women of Afghanistan or “free the Iraqi people”.
Now, as the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, is in essence abducted and Venezuela taken over by the US, there is barely any effort to situate the coup in any reasoning other than the US’s interests. Nor are there any attempts to solicit consent from domestic or international law-making bodies and allies, let alone the public. The days of the US trying to convince the world that Saddam Hussein did in fact have weapons of mass destruction despite secretly having no reliable intelligence were, in fact, the good old days.
Maduro “effed around and found out”, said the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth. “America can project our will anywhere, any time.” The US will now “run Venezuela” said the president, Donald Trump. “We are going to have a presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil.” There is little to no effort to make reasonings for the takeover cohere. It is claimed that Maduro is guilty of “narco-terrorism” and other charges including “Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns [sic] and Destructive Devices against the United States” – charges that not only fail to clear the bar required for invasion........