The capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro by the United States has forced the international community to confront an uncomfortable reality: the widening gap between power and its justification. Mr Maduro’s removal did not occur in a political vacuum. His claim to democratic legitimacy was already gravely weakened by the disputed 2024 election, while allegations linking senior figures in the Venezuelan state to transnational drug trafficking are longstanding and widely acknowledged. Even critics of Washington’s actions rarely argue that these charges emerged without basis.

The question raised by recent events, therefore, is not whether Mr Maduro was a credible democratic leader, but whether the method used to remove him can be reconciled with the principles that ostensibly govern international conduct. That method matters. The US did not rely on diplomatic isolation, economic pressure, or recognition of an alternative authority. It conducted a direct military operation on foreign........

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