Maduro, Venezuela and the United States

We entered 2026 with an interesting operation that was a manifestation of the United States' disregard for international law.

Venezuelan President Maduro was brought to the United States by a US military, police and intelligence operation, from his own country, from his own home, accompanied by his wife, and put on trial. Moreover, there was almost no defensive reaction from Venezuelan security forces. First, let us state this clearly. US courts have no jurisdiction to try the president of another state. Even if Maduro is guilty, he should be tried either in his own country or in international courts. His abduction from his country and trial in the US is a clear sign that the world order is falling apart.

Let us remember. The US has always carried out similar operations in violation of international law, and continues to do so. Most recently, it bombed Fordow, where Iran's underground nuclear facilities are located, with B-52 bombers sent from its own territory, rendering the site unusable and returning home without a single casualty. Aside from using the airspace of many countries without permission, by conducting such an air operation from one end of the world to the other, it sent a message to Eurasia in particular: ‘I am not finished, I am the hegemon, I will strike wherever I want, whenever I want, without regard for distance, I do not recognise international law or legitimacy, and you cannot do anything about it.’

Seeing that no one would stop it, the US raised its hand and began to carry out military operations against the leaders of other states. This situation will disturb the leaders of all other countries, whether they are autocratic, totalitarian or democratic. This disturbance will cause countries to increase their defence spending. Although the reasons for the operation appear to be narcotics terrorism and narcotics trafficking, it is clear that after this incident, the arms race among all states, regardless of size or membership in any international organisation, will increase at supersonic speed, with the US taking the largest share. US hegemony continues its efforts to restrain and neutralise the threat of convergence and overtaking from Eurasia by using its greatest strengths: military and technological power.

Let's return to Maduro.

The low-level democracies sliding into autocracy, led by Maduro, have created a very significant problem both for their own countries and peoples and for the world order. Maduro and other autocratic leaders who employ similar tactics have taken decisions that destroy all systems of balance and control in their countries, resulting in an unaccountable, unquestioned, and unchallenged style of governance. Although these countries may appear to have democracy and the rule of law, a totalitarian mindset has emerged. By suppressing the democratic reactions of the people, the free media and opposition, which are indispensable to democracy, have been weakened. Various manipulations and fears have been used to ensure that the people's support for the government does not wane. Even if the people, fed up with the crises and poor governance, wanted to go to the polls and change their autocratic leader, this time rigged elections came into play and the autocratic leadership remained unchanged. The 2024 Venezuelan election, which was not recognised by most South American states due to Maduro's refusal to allow observers from outside the country and the alleged fraud that took place, is a clear example of this totalitarianism. While Maduro's unjust and unlawful actions to avoid relinquishing power are evident, his inability to be held accountable either within his own country or under international law has led to this new situation, prompting the US to reclaim its role as the world's policeman. A situation similar to that of people who have lost hope in the law resorting to the mafia in their quest for justice has begun to unfold among states. We will see how right it is to try to destroy illegality with more illegality.

In Venezuela, five years before the 2024 elections, in 2019, there were also debates about Maduro and Venezuela. Let us remember those days so that we can better analyse what is happening today. Maduro was the president elected in the 2019 election, but he had become president as a result of an election boycotted by the opposition and with turnout below 50%. And even more interestingly, Guaido, aged 35, as the president of the national assembly, i.e. the representatives elected by the people, had declared himself interim head of state against Maduro.

While Guaido's declaration was recognised by the Organisation of American States, led by the US and Canada, and many South American states, except Bolivia and Mexico, messages of support for Maduro came from states including Russia and Turkey.

The EU, meanwhile, argued that new elections should be held.

At the time, those who viewed this event as a coup against the existing government, however oppressive it may have been, were pro-Maduro; those who saw it as a revolution, a popular movement against oppressive regimes, were pro-Guaidó. It was not entirely clear whether this event was a coup or a genuine pro-democracy popular movement. The main reason for this was the stance of the armed forces of that country, which are the main element of coups, as the Venezuelan army appeared to be outside these debates and did not take sides.

It was clear that the best solution would be to hold new elections with plenty of observers and no fraud, i.e. the EU's position, but this did not happen either.

Ultimately, if we are democratic and the people determine the rules of democracy, the people's demands must be taken into account. At that time, it was impossible to govern a country with inflation reaching millions of percent, and as a result, we have arrived at today.

The fact that the Venezuelan people are not reacting strongly to the illegal operation against Maduro today is a sign that they are fed up with economic hardship, nepotism, rigged elections, autocracy, in short, poor governance. Maduro's poor governance is also the reason why 20 per cent of the population has left the country. If Maduro could be tried in his own country or in an international court for his actions, the world would not be facing this unlawful operation by the US today.

It seems that authoritarian and totalitarian governance models are now disrupting not only the order of that country but also the order of the entire world. Moreover, if these regimes do not serve the interests of the increasingly authoritarian US administration in its quest to re-establish hegemony, they will be subjected to such operations. The perception that being totalitarian is not a problem if you serve US interests will cause the countries ruled by these leaders to make decisions based on US interests rather than their own. Remaining silent or making feeble protests against these operations will cause states ruled by such authoritarian leaders to face a similar situation.

It seems that a better world cannot be achieved unless the world frees itself from both the US hegemony, which is ruthless and lawless in pursuit of its own interests, and the authoritarian and totalitarian regimes that oppress their people, wear them down with unjust and lawless governance, and refuse to relinquish power through fraudulent elections.