TEHRAN – The early Saturday U.S. strike on Venezuela and the reported abduction of President Nicolás Maduro were not acts of justice or legitimate defense. They were manifestations of raw power politics — the law of the jungle — where might is imposed over right and international norms are discarded in favor of brute force. By bypassing international law and seizing a sitting president, Washington has spread instability across Latin America, undermining the very principles of sovereignty and self-determination.

Goals behind the aggression

The objectives are transparent: regime change, dismantling Venezuela’s independent political system, and securing control over its vast oil reserves. The elevation of María Corina Machado, who was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, is part of this strategy. Far from being a purely democratic figure, she is positioned as a convenient U.S. proxy — a face for domination rather than empowerment. This is not about Venezuelan self-rule but about installing leadership that serves American interests.

Militarization of the Caribbean

The strike cannot be separated from the broader militarization of the Caribbean. Since early September 2025, U.S. forces have carried out more than thirty strikes on boats, killing at least 115 people. These attacks were justified with accusations of Venezuelan drug trafficking, yet Washington has provided no credible evidence. The “narco-terrorism” narrative functions as a pretext to legitimize violence and economic seizures, including the capture of Venezuelan oil tankers. In reality, these operations spread chaos, disrupt trade, and terrorize communities across the region.

The Monroe Doctrine 

The revival of the Monroe Doctrine under Trump provides ideological cover for U.S. intervention. Once a declaration against European colonialism, it has been twisted into a justification for American hegemony. By invoking its spirit, Washington asserts that Latin America is its backyard, where sovereignty can be suspended at will. Venezuela has become the latest victim of this imperial revival.

Historical parallels

This aggression is not unprecedented. Venezuela joins a long list of nations subjected to U.S. intervention under false pretenses:

Panama, 1989: The invasion, justified by accusations against Manuel Noriega, killed hundreds of civilians. The parallels with Venezuela are striking: narcotics charges, military strikes, and the removal of a sitting leader. The real motive was control over the canal then, over oil now.

Grenada, 1983: Framed as a rescue mission, the invasion was in reality a demonstration of U.S. dominance. Sovereignty was crushed under fabricated threats.

Iraq, 2003: The war, justified by nonexistent weapons of mass destruction, destroyed a nation and destabilized the Middle East. Venezuela echoes this pattern: unproven accusations, military campaigns, and chaos imposed under the guise of security.

Trump’s militarism

Trump’s warmongering in 2025 reached unprecedented levels, with U.S. attacks on seven countries in a single year — including Iran, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. In December, Washington confirmed a strike on a Venezuelan docking facility, the first acknowledged attack on Venezuelan soil in years.

Presently, the latest large-scale strike is part of this broader pattern of militarism, where force is normalized as the primary instrument of foreign policy. Such behavior erodes international law, destabilizes regions, and sets a dangerous precedent for unilateral interventions against sovereign states. It is not the spread of democracy but the deliberate dismantling of order in favor of domination.

The people of Latin America recognize this pattern, understand the cost of silence, and know the necessity of resistance.

This is a call to defend sovereignty. A call to reject jungle logic that says might makes right. A call to expose the lies of drug trafficking accusations and to honor the lives lost in the Caribbean. Venezuela’s struggle is the struggle of all nations that refuse to bow to empire.

The world must choose: law or jungle, sovereignty or domination, order or chaos. Venezuela has chosen resistance. Latin America must stand with it. And history will remember those who fought against the spread of anarchy and defended the right of nations to chart their own future.