When Donald John Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America immediately after becoming the US President for the second time a year ago, the global community considered the move a ridiculous one. Now, the global community realises that the matter was quite serious. The way the US Forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros and brought him straight to New York after conducting a large-scale strike in Caracas on January 3, 2026 is not a work of fiction or a mere political thriller, but a real, well-planned and meticulously executed operation.

This is how the Global Diplomacy of the third decade of the 21st Century is being shaped. The abduction of the Venezuelan President in a military operation suggests the US’ return to a Might makes Right approach or Military Authoritarianism in International Relations. It also shows that the Trump Administration has prioritised national interests (economic and security) over strict adherence to international norms, treaties and institutions, indicating a shift towards a more transactional America First foreign policy rather than consistent multilateralism.

The perpetrators of such incidents do not bother with any excuses. The US President has defended his move by arguing that the attack on Venezuela is an essential part of his war against narco-terrorism. migration and drug-trafficking. It is not a suitable excuse as the US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) of 2024 revealed that the main sources of the most consumed drugs in the US, like cocaine and synthetic substances, like meth, opioids, MDMA etc., were from Mexico and Colombia. As per the NSDUH report, Venezuela is not the main source of US-bound drugs, nor does it play a significant role in its transit to the US. Such a sudden move is, therefore, difficult to explain with President Trump’s argument.

The US is also talking about the failure of democracy in Venezuela. Maduro had allegedly stolen the election in 2013 and seized power through illegal means. There is no need to ascertain the veracity of this allegation, especially when the world has already heard from President Trump about the futility of democracy and the electoral process. The global community must be wondering why the US is so distressed, as well as alarmed, by Venezuela’s moral and political decay, instead of focussing on the current state of its own democracy.

In fact, the Operation Absolute Resolve may bear the hallmark of President Trump’s unique style, but the world of the 20th and 21st Centuries is quite familiar with the US’ long history of intervening in the internal affairs of other countries in the pretext of promoting democracy. The global community has seen the dramatic deployment of US troops in Nicaragua, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Venezuela and some other countries based on this argument.

Therefore, there may be an element of surprise in President Trump’s actions, but there is nothing truly astonishing about it. The project to seize control of the oil reserves of Central and South America has long been a primary, as well as central, condition of US policy. Washington DC is extremely eager to acquire heavy crude oil that is rich in minerals, alongside its own low-density light crude, a vast reserve of which exists in countries, like Venezuela. In other words, it is a long-standing project of the US and this shameless policy of military intervention, too, is an old one.

President Trump is not a guiding figure, but merely one of the characters. When history turns into a farce, it is written in the guise of a farce. Once, Karl Marx rightly said: “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.” Therefore, it would be a mistake to view the US military operation in Venezuela as one of the numerous ridiculous activities of President Trump. As expected, the international reaction has been quite limited. Since the UN is completely dominated by US influence, there is no hope of any opposition or criticism from the World Body either.

As far as dynamics of contemporary bilateral relations are concerned, when a powerful nation, like China or the US, demonstrates military strength within its own recognised sphere of influence, other major powers do not intervene (mainly because of fear of escalation and the dominant power’s ability to impose its will in its immediate region). If China does not interfere in Venezuela, the US will remain a silent spectator on the Taiwan issue. This is a sort of mutual understanding. The Maduro Episode has made this reality clear, yet again.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das