Two days after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a raid on Caracas—taking them to New York to face drug trafficking charges—the operation has ignited global backlash. The United Nations and U.S. critics accuse the Trump administration of breaching international law by bypassing congressional approval, UN notification, and self-defense justifications.
The strikes, part of Operation Absolute Resolve as detailed in initial reports, resulted in civilian casualties and the overthrow of Maduro's anti-U.S. regime. No imminent threat was cited to invoke self-defense under the U.N. Charter, which generally prohibits force against sovereign states absent Security Council approval. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres voiced alarm that 'international law has not been respected,' prompting an emergency Security Council meeting on January 6.
Domestically, the action without congressional notice has fueled accusations of overreach. Echoing the 1989 Panama invasion—also justified partly on drug grounds—this aligns with Trump's National Security Strategy viewing Latin America as a U.S. sphere of influence. Venezuela's vast oil reserves factor into Trump's aims to restore American energy interests.
Russia and China condemned the move despite their own territorial ambitions in Ukraine and Taiwan, highlighting eroding norms in great-power rivalry. Such unilateralism risks destabilizing the global order, where military might overshadows legal constraints. To counter this, Japan and Europe should unite in defending sovereignty and international law. (Adapted from The Yomiuri Shimbun editorial)
