Venezuela, Europe, Spain...
Trump, unstoppable and aggressive, has once again upended the global geopolitical landscape. At this point, it seems nothing can stop him. The US military intervention against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the attempt to install a compliant government in Caracas with the Chavista regime's number two, Delcy Rodríguez, represent another giant step against international law—beginning with the lack of respect for national sovereignty—and against the requirement to have sought congressional approval for armed intervention in Venezuela. Of course, there is immense anxiety in Latin American countries, which, with the resurrected Monroe Doctrine, once again find themselves directly threatened as Washington's "backyard." But, indirectly, the alarm also affects an indecisive Europe, incapable of asserting its collective power and its democratic and humanist values, as seen recently with its staunch resistance to the contempt with which Trump has treated the EU in negotiations with Moscow regarding the war in Ukraine.
Now, after Trump's attack on Venezuelan sovereignty, the idea of dividing the world into spheres of influence for the US, Russia, and China becomes even more evident, and the delegitimization of democratic and diplomatic mechanisms is made explicit. Trump has no scruples when it comes to defending the law and the interests of the strongest. Putin and Xi will have increasingly more cover to do as they please in their spheres of influence. The entire architecture that emerged after World War II is collapsing, and with it, Europe is left in no man's land, alone against the Russian threat, but also against a Trumpian expansionism that has made it clear it wants to seize Greenland, a Danish territory.
When will Europe dare to openly embark on its own path—a common army—for defense? How long will it take to understand that it urgently needs a strong voice, in military, economic, and political terms? The challenge, of course, comes at a particularly bad time, with Trump undermining continental cohesion by supporting far-right leaders. And when traditional parties, both right and left, are losing ground. But either there is a reaction, or the European decline that Trump denounces will be a (self-)fulfilling prophecy—in fact, a fragmented and decadent Europe suits Trump just fine.
And what about Spain? With Venezuela, President Pedro Sánchez is positioning himself as the European leader pushing the EU to distance itself from Trump, just as he did with Gaza. Leveraging historical ties with Latin America, he has aligned himself with the democratic left-wing governments—Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay—that aim to curb the new US imperialism, while simultaneously seeking to overcome Brussels' inertia. Beyond the effectiveness of these gestures, domestically, his stance could provide him with the impetus to mobilize the electorate, especially considering the erratic disarray of a People's Party (PP) overwhelmed by the contradictions between its anti-Chavismo, its defense of Corina Machado (who was dismissed by Trump), and its timid appeals.
