Overthrowing the Maduro government is a top priority for Trump.

WashingtonIn the dead of night, under cover of the bombing of Caracas, the United States has conducted the largest operation in Latin America in decades. The kidnapping of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, who will be tried in New York, is a declaration of how the sheriff Washington also intends to be the chieftain of the entire Southern Hemisphere. The ambitions to revive the backyard doctrine had become more than evident in the escalation of recent months: in September, a large fleet of naval vessels was deployed to the edge of international waters, and soon afterward, the campaign of extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and the Pacific, Dubbed "Operation Southern Launch," the operation saw Donald Trump intensify his war of nerves in late November, asserting that Maduro's days were numbered. The specter of an Iraq invasion loomed over Washington this Saturday, though from the outset the president insisted that these were concrete operations against what he calls narco-terrorism. However, the actions taken against the alleged drug-running boats, unilaterally sinking the vessels based solely on accusations that their crews belonged to drug trafficking organizations, bear a striking resemblance to the actions taken in the fight against Al Qaeda. Looking back to the 1980s, there is also a clear parallel with the capture of Panamanian dictator Antonio Noriega by George H.W. Bush.

The narrative of the fight against drug trafficking that the US administration has maintained all this time is a thin veil behind which the interest in controlling Venezuelan oil reserves is visible. "We have the best oil companies in the world, the biggest, the best, and we'll be very involved [in the Venezuelan oil industry]," Trump said in statements to Fox News on Saturday morning while Maduro and his wife were already being held on a warship and en route to the US. Hours later, he admitted that US oil companies would be in charge of managing the Latin American country's reserves until further notice.

TheAmerica First What Trump promised during his campaign was not simple isolationism, but rather the acceptance of a new international order with the United States regaining control of those regions it considers its natural sphere of influence. In recent years, China It has gained greater influence in the region through its program known as the New Silk Road, This has worried Washington. In fact, Caribbean trade routes and the Panama Canal, which Trump had already explicitly stated his aspirations to annex, are also at stake.

Without consulting Congress

If the attacks against ships in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific already raised eyebrows in Congress regarding actions that fall within a framework of war, the capture of Maduro will unleash even more nervousness. Members of Congress had demanded explanations from the Trump administration regarding the authority under which it decided to undertake acts of war abroad, given that the power to declare war rests exclusively with the legislature. The president had previously dismissed the need to consult with Congress on these matters. In a way, the capture of Maduro also represents another crack in the American democratic system, with Trump accumulating more power than is appropriate for his presidency. When Bush Sr. intervened in Panama to kidnap Noriega, he also failed to consult Congress. Paradoxically, although Trump never explicitly stated the overthrow of the Maduro regime as one of his international priorities—he has always focused on Gaza and Ukraine—the capture of the Venezuelan leader is being hailed as one of the great successes of his policy. This operation bears the signature of two other names: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, known for his hardline stance on Venezuela and Cuba, and Senator Bernie Moreno. The Republican, born in Colombia and later a U.S. citizen, has also campaigned to extend pressure to the government of Gustavo Petro.

In mid-November, amidst escalating military pressure against Maduro and the expansion of military attacks against alleged drug-running boats in the Eastern Pacific, a photograph taken in the Oval Office on October 21, showing Maduro and Petro, surfaced in the Latin American press. An analysis of the image was published by the magazine Change. The person holding the image was Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, and it included a memo from Senator Moreno titled "Trump Doctrine." The images fueled the psychological warfare narrative after Trump had authorized covert CIA operations inside Venezuela.

Shortly after the images were leaked in early December The November 21st call between Maduro and Trump was knownwhere Rubio had also been present. The US president offered the dictator a negotiated solution, something the Venezuelan effectively rejected by letting the deadline Washington had offered expire. It was just days after the safe passage expired that Trump increased the pressure with a public threat of a ground invasion. Three days into the new year, the threats have become reality. The pattern followed by Trump with Venezuela is the same one applied last May in Iran, with a clear message: Washington will not hesitate to use its force and ignore international law to defend its interests. All of this wrapped up in an Orwellian oxymoron. borrowed from Reagan:Peace through strength (Peace by Force).

The Maduro regime has long since ceased to be recognized by the United States. The legitimacy of the Chavista leader was called into question in 2024 after his electoral victory was proclaimed by the National Electoral Council (a body controlled by the Maduro government) and the electoral records were not published. At the time, the administration of former President Joe Biden recognized the opposition candidate, Edmundo González, as the winner of those elections. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has also been calling for US intervention from hiding.to overthrow the Maduro regime.

During his first administration, Trump already attempted to overthrow the Maduro regime by supporting the 2019 uprising led by opposition leader Juan Guaidó, dubbed "Operation Freedom." Military personnel and civilians joined this call for Maduro's removal. At that time, Maduro accused the United States of conspiring to instigate a coup within Venezuela.