Editorial
It is useful to understand the terrain Donald Trump tried to cross with the dramatic seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. The central question is whether Maduro’s removal created a power vacuum. The answer appears to be no. Venezuela is not a fragile state waiting to collapse under American force. Years of Russian, Chinese, and Iranian investment have reinforced the Bolivarian system, making it far harder to dismantle than Washington may assume. History offers a reminder. Hugo Chávez was also kidnapped during a CIA-backed coup, yet public resistance brought him back to power, where he remained until his early and controversial death.
At the heart of Trump’s move lies a deeper anxiety about Brics and the challenge it poses to US dominance. Venezuela and Iran, both sanctioned and both Brics-aligned, represent a future where American sanctions lose their bite. A functioning alternative economic bloc threatens Washington’s ability to coerce states through financial isolation, and that prospect clearly troubles the US leadership.
The Bolivarian revolution Chávez launched in 1998 was never just about elections. It drew inspiration from Simón Bolívar’s ideals of sovereignty, unity, and resistance to imperial control. Chávez used oil wealth to fund healthcare, education, food subsidies, and literacy programmes, reshaping Venezuelan society and rejecting the neoliberal order long favoured by Washington. That alone made Venezuela an irritant, a challenge to the Monroe Doctrine in America’s own hemisphere.
Trump’s aggressive posture fits his broader worldview. Military force is presented as proof of American greatness, even when it deepens instability. His record of bombing multiple countries, alongside unwavering support for Israel, has already strained global opinion and divided his domestic base. In Venezuela, the spectacle of intelligence bravado has overshadowed the human cost. Cuban guards and Venezuelans died resisting the operation, signalling that control will not come easily.
The larger danger for Trump is miscalculation. Venezuela’s resistance, Brics’ growing cohesion, and shifting global alliances suggest that old methods may no longer deliver old results. In trying to reassert American supremacy through force, Trump may instead be revealing how uncertain that supremacy has become.
