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The overthrow and reported capture by incursive US forces of Nicolas Maduro will send a shiver of dread and alarm across the globe. This power grab is unlawful, unprovoked, and destabilizing for the region and the world. It overturns international norms, disregards national territorial sovereignty, and risks creating an state of anarchy inside Venezuela itself.

It is policy crafted from chaos. But this is the world we now live in – the world according to the US President.

A Remarkable and Dangerous Assertion of Unfettered US Power

The direct attack on Venezuela marks an remarkable, hazardous assertion of unchecked American might and arrives the same week that the President menaced armed attacks against another unpopular government opposed to the West: that of Iran. It comes after many months of increasing US pressure through military, economic, and political means on Maduro, including lethal maritime attacks on vessels suspected of drug smuggling.

Trump asserts he is acting to prevent illegal narcotics entering the US via Venezuela and to cease an alleged influx of “criminal” migrants. In an repetition of the American incursion into Iraq in 2003, he is also charged with desiring Venezuela’s vast petroleum and natural gas reserves – suspicions reinforced by repeated, illegal US confiscations of Venezuelan oil tankers.

But Trump’s primary motives appear to be personal animosity directed at Maduro, and a desire to revive the historical Monroe Doctrine by establishing a American zone of control and supremacy throughout the west.

Regional Outrage and Worldwide Consequences

Regional leaders, such as Colombia’s president, who has conflicted with Trump in recent months, met the takeover with fury and concern; in part, possibly, because they fear they too could become victims of Washington’s newly aggressive dominance. Cuba’s socialist administration has special reason for worry. It relies heavily on Venezuela’s regime for cheap energy and political and economic support.

The US secretary of state has been explicit of his wish to see regime change in Havana. In Panama, too, levels of concern will be elevated. Trump has in the past menaced military action there, over authority over the Panama Canal. Indeed, the alleged apprehension of Maduro brings to mind the 1989 US incursion into Panama and the overthrow and detention of its then dictator.

Authoritarian, anti-democratic regimes around the world will be carefully watching Trump’s next steps, as will Washington’s allies in democracy. Iran denounced the overthrow. It has valid cause to be fearful. But Russia’s president may not be totally displeased by the removal of his Venezuelan ally.

A Dangerous Precedent for Global Conflicts

Trump’s unjustified turn to force is not so very different from actions in invading Ukraine. Both have illegally attacked a neighbouring country and attempted to oust its leadership. For China’s leader, whose forces were last week practising military action against the “breakaway factions” of Taiwan, Trump has just set a precedent he may one day gladly follow.

Trump’s coup is of significant worry to Britain, the EU and western democracies. They ought to, and have to, unequivocally condemn it. It directly challenges the rules and principles of the international order they hold dear. The US has yet again disregarded the United Nations and traditional methods of addressing inter-state grievances. And it is acting with seemingly little consideration for the subsequent events in Venezuela.

Uncertain Aftermath and Potential for Chaos

The Caracas government has been decapitated, but other senior members of the regime seem to remain in place. They are calling for opposition and, potentially, reprisals against the US. There are unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties. If a leadership void forms, civil stability might disintegrate, igniting civil war or a potential armed takeover. And it is uncertain whether the most recent American armed intervention has ended, or may intensify more.

The idea that banished dissident figures will swiftly return and that full democracy will now be restored is naive. The coming days will be decisive. And it’s all down to Trump.

The Myth of the Peacemaker

Trump’s imprudent move should finally lay to rest his always misleading self-portrayal as a “world peacemaker”. It’s high time that European leaders publicly recognise him for what he is – a global warmaker, a worldwide threat.

Each time he blunders noisily into areas of dispute, setting deadlines, issuing ultimatums, choosing sides and monetising misery, the quest for just and lasting peace is hindered.

Little wonder peace is elusive. And strangely, even while presenting himself as a disinterested peacemaker and non-interventionist, Trump concurrently conducts warfare on the world. The US conducted record numbers of air strikes in the Middle East and Africa the previous year, data indicates.

A Legacy in Blood

Since resuming the presidency a year ago, peace-loving Trump has bombed Yemen, carelessly killing numerous civilians after loosening rules of engagement; bombed Nigeria, to detrimental outcomes; struck locations in Somalia, Iraq and Syria; and bombed Iran, where he falsely inflated the success of US strikes on nuclear facilities. He even refuses to rule out attacking Greenland, a independent land of a Nato ally.

What’s going on in the President's mind? A benign interpretation is that in issues of conflict and tranquility, he has no idea what his actions entail – no strategy, no clue – and invents strategy on the fly, depending on how he feels.

The sinister interpretation says he is fully aware what he is doing, that greater and more severe actions are forthcoming. Like previous second-term presidents who ran out of road at home, Trump finds the global platform offers greater possibilities for the exercise of power and self-importance. He is building a legacy through violence.

Trump’s irresponsible, dangerously erratic conduct is getting measurably worse. His Venezuela “triumph” may encourage him to try further and larger, irrational atrocities. He parades and postures, shouts for chaos! and lets slip the hounds of conflict.