The forcible kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces has sent shockwaves through the international community, raising profound questions about the erosion of the post-war legal order. From a Latin American perspective, Colombian political commentator Fernando Munoz offers a blistering analysis, arguing the operation exposes a raw pursuit of resources and hegemony disguised as law enforcement.
Munoz dissects the U.S. justification by pointing to the presidential press conference following Maduro's arraignment in a New York courtroom. "He mentioned the word democracy a total of 0 times, but he mentioned the word oil 26 times," Munoz states. "So it's very clear what America is doing. And it's very clear that all these labels... are nothing but excuses." This action, he contends, exemplifies how labels like "narco-state", used by the U.S. to declare Venezuelan cartels "unlawful combatants" in an "armed conflict", are deployed without evidence to enable intervention.
While the Trump administration defends the mission as a legal "surgical law enforcement operation," and aligns it with its strategic goal to restore "American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere," Munoz sees a deeper, cynical mechanism. "The United States uses the war on drugs as a mechanism of control," he argues, describing how U.S. aid creates dependency among Latin American elites.
This control, he says, is now being leveraged blatantly in Venezuela for oil. He views President Trump's announcement that major American oil companies would enter Venezuela to rebuild its infrastructure as a transparent move towards monopolization, drawing a direct parallel to the enduring U.S. control over Iraqi oil sales established by Executive Order 13303.
The predicament of acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who has called for "cooperation" with the U.S., underscores the dilemma. Munoz predicts she is in a "very difficult spot" between alienating a populace deeply opposed to Trump and facing continued U.S. aggression if she refuses.
This local turmoil mirrors the global unease as well. U.N. Undersecretary-General Rosemary A. DiCarlo warned that international security depends on adherence to the U.N. Charter, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the capture as running "counter to the principle of the non-use of force." Munoz echoes this, warning that establishing U.S. military bases in Venezuela would be "detrimental to the security of the region."
The ultimate goal, Munoz asserts, is hemispheric dominance. "It's out there pushing their agenda, which is to regain control of Latin America and the hemisphere," he says, seeing the action as a clear signal to rivals. Trump's subsequent threats against Colombia and President Gustavo Petro prove that the concern is already taking shape—that Maduro's ouster would "pave the way for more military interventions."
For Munoz, the question transcends Maduro's fate in what he calls the "tough call" of American justice. The fundamental issue raised by an operation that makes "might makes right" muscle its way back onto the global stage is, in his words: "who, when, and how will this empire be stopped?"
Munoz frames the Venezuela operation not as an isolated incident, but as a potent symptom of a crumbling international order and a return to imperial predation in America's backyard.
Reporter: Guo Zedong
Text: Guo Zedong
Video Script: Guo Zedong
Video editor: Liang Zijian
Video Cover: Lai Meiya
Editor: Yuan Zixiang, James Campion, Shen He, Ou Xiaoming
