Trump and the US: from impunity to boomerang?

You don't need to be a legal expert to know that the US military operation in Venezuela violates international and national laws. It continues to deepen the generation of chaos at all levels—including legal, economic, and political—in order to seize power and wealth. This is as old as humanity itself. But the brazenness, the current global interconnectedness, and the available resources—adding the destructive capacity of the arms race and the renewed threat of nuclear weapons—make the impact exponential.

In December, Trump offered some clues, which he repeated in his appearance at his private residence, accompanied by the heads of the CIA, the Pentagon, and his political-military leadership, while Maduro was being held captive by US military personnel: the new National Security strategy is based on a combination of the America First doctrine, in which the end—the benefit of some Americans—justifies the use of all available means, both domestically and internationally.

From the late 19th century, efforts were made to agree upon and approve the laws of war. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Hague Conventions were signed to legislate the limits of what was and was not permitted in warfare, and also to regulate commitments to prevent armed conflicts and mediation between warring countries. Seven years later, the First World War began, and two decades later, the Second World War, with flagrant violations of the established laws, resulting in millions of deaths, injuries, and countless damages.

"War is a swindle." This is not—just—a proclamation of those who advocate the peaceful resolution of conflicts. This is the argument published in 1935 by General Butler, one of the most decorated military officers in the United States: after participating in US military interventions in Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, and China, he denounced, with data, the industrialized barbarity of the First World War and the enrichment of the United States. This remains intact, but within a framework of fear and the collapse of US hegemonic power. That is why it is even more dangerous.

In 1945, representatives of the states conspired to ensure that this would not happen again, and committed themselves to complying with the Charter of the United Nations, which in its Chapter VI regulates "the peaceful settlement of disputes"—to prevent armed conflicts and submit to the action of the UN in the event of threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, or acts of aggression—authorizes the use of military force to defend against aggression or the use of force authorized by the UN, in addition to submitting states to the UN tribunal in The Hague. In 1948, the new Geneva Conventions were adopted, prohibiting the bombing of civilian populations and cities, the invasion of third-party territories, and attacks on refugee camps, among other things. Later, the Convention against Genocide and many other international treaties were adopted, prohibiting torture and extrajudicial executions, among other things. And in 2002, the International Criminal Court treaty was adopted to try presidents, ministers, and generals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. This treaty complements the universal jurisdiction of states, committing them to investigate and prosecute international crimes committed in other countries.

Many states have violated that order. What the US is doing in Venezuela is something it has done since the 20th century: through espionage, the military, and the School of the Americas, it overthrew governments and supported dictatorships in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil. Exactly 36 years ago, it invaded Panama with 26,000 soldiers and ousted Noriega (a CIA agent), accused of drug trafficking (as with Maduro, labeled a narco-terrorist). For more than a decade, after the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, it subverted the international order by applying the doctrine of Extraordinary Rendition, acting militarily in Afghanistan "in self-defense," with kidnappings and torture, flagrantly violating the Geneva Conventions. Simultaneously, it intervened in Iraq, with the entire fabrication surrounding the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction that motivated the military aggression. And, as far as we know, Trump, the CIA, the Pentagon, and the private military-industrial complex have carried out more than 600 bombings in the last year, prohibited by international law, in Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, and Nigeria, in addition to Venezuela and countless covert military operations. And in the last few hours, he has driven the point home by withdrawing from 31 UN agencies and other organizations to act "against our interests."

Those behind all these attacks, including in Venezuela, are not only the visible US political and military leadership, but also multinational military and security companies, large corporations that exploit natural resources—oil, lithium, coltan, etc.—before, during, and after wars, and multinational technology and financial companies, which are never violated, nor are they ever violated, and they, along with governments, are amassing enormous illegal wealth. This leadership violates US national law by failing to seek Senate authorization for military intervention, and it violates international law by bombing military and civilian targets in Venezuela (without prior military aggression from that country), carrying out more than 100 extrajudicial executions, and arresting and kidnapping people, attempting to prosecute them under tailor-made laws, while simultaneously disregarding international treaties and international courts. And threatening Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, and especially Panama and Greenland with blackmail and state terror, with the message, "Either you negotiate and give me what I want, or I'll invade with the army." And all with complete impunity, like Russia with Crimea and Ukraine and Israel with Palestine. We shall see how the implacable law of the boomerang plays out, a law beyond the control of individuals, countries, and empires.