US policy now a manifestation of might is right
The new year is barely with us and already we have started with a bang, literally. The events from Venezuela have made front page news everywhere. Even here in Cyprus there have been numerous opinions and analyses being expressed. As someone who has repeatedly written on the subject of Donald Trump, and been criticised for maybe spending too much time on him at the expense of dealing with more local events, I feel vindicated that what is happening in the US matters to us all.
The daring military operation by US special elite forces, leading to the abduction of de facto President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Venezuela and bringing them to face court charges in New York for allegedly being behind drug and weapons trafficking into the US, has rightly raised concerns everywhere. Most people will not shed any tears for Maduro, myself included, who was viewed by the majority of the western world as a ruthless dictator clinging to power by abusing the electroral process and exploiting the Venezuelan people.
The military action however initiated by President Trump is fundamentally against international law and the UN Charter and is another indication that Trump has no respect for either. This much was admitted by Trump himself in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday when he was asked if there were any limits on his global powers. “Yeah, there is one thing,” he said. “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me. I don’t need international law. I’m not looking to hurt people.”
For people who have an inclination to salute the decisiveness and effectiveness of the US action, they should be reminded that due process is important.
I have long argued (Cyprus Mail 28/9/2025), that democracies by design sacrifice efficiency for legitimacy. But when a lack of effectiveness drives people to pursue ends by any means necessary, democracy gives way to authoritarianism – with unpredictable consequences. Trump embodies this tendency.
The notion that the end justifies the means is something that creates the impression that everything is fair play and, in the US at least, it is the norm that now prevails. Today, America has abandoned the values that once made the West a beacon of attraction around the globe. Instead, US policy is now a manifestation of might is right.
People rejoicing at the removal of Maduro should have no illusions as to what Trump’s real intentions are. He chose Venezuela’s acting president, Maduro’s vice-president Delcy Rodríguez, to remain in power. This because she can be better manipulated than would be the Nobel peace prize winner and leader of the oppossition in Venezuela, María Corina Machado or Edmundo Gonzalez, recognised by most countries including the US, as the legitimate winner of the 2024 election that Maduro falsely claimed to have won. Gonzalez, now 76, was the proxy presidential candidate for María Corina Machado, who was barred from running for office.
Trump’s choice was because he has leverage on Rodriquez whom he can depose at will and effectively run the country through her, unlike the case with Machado who has nothing against her and would be free to make her choices for the Venezuelan people without referring to Trump.
This should be enough to convince even the most ardent supporters of the US military action that the move by Trump has nothing to do with supposed drug trafficking let alone restoring democracy in Venezuela but is simply a colonial grab for the country’s resources, particularly as Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. Already Trump has announced that Venezuela will be sending to the US, 30-50 million barrels of oil (valued at around $2-$3 billion), the proceeds of which will be handled by himself personally. Supposedly this will be done for the benefit of the Venezuelan and US people, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
The coup in Venezuela is only a small sample of what 2026 has in store for us. Already Trump and his entourage are making noises that the next countries to face a similar fate are Cuba, Colombia and maybe even Mexico. Most striking however is the claim, once again, that Greenland should be part of the US, allegedly for national security purposes. National security seems to be the trump card (no pun intended) being played to justify any action.
The fact that Greenland is part of Nato through its dependence on Denmark seems not to register with the president. European countries worried about the developments, have rallied behind Denmark saying that any move against Greenland by the US will effectively mean the dissolution of Nato. I have a feeling that in practice this may mean an added incentive to Trump rather than act as deterrence.
European countries should move from empty declarations to taking practical steps to address the risk being posed by the US. In a Financial Times editorial on January 8, a recommendation for a multi-country Nato effort to increase the security in Greenland should go beyond the $4.2bn already committed by Copenhagen. The US could be part of this effort, but Canada with a closer geographical proximity to Greenland than the US should take a lead role. Time is of the essence before the Europeans, which are viewed as weak by Trump, are faced with a fait accompli.
I appreciate the dangers of such an approach, but Trump understands only the language of strength, and this must be realised immediately if we are not to descend further into being dominated by America. Already Trump has announced his intention to raise defence military spending by almost 50 per cent from the current year’s record budget of $901bn to $1.5tn.
In an article in the New York Times on January 5, columnist David French quoted the following from Prussian military thinker Carl von Clausewitz: “War, is a mere continuation of policy by other means.” Venezuela’s events should make to everyone clear what Trump’s policy is.
As I commented on Trump’s new Monroe doctrine in the Cyprus Mail on December 14 which has since been dubbed Donroe (in true fashion of stamping everything with Trump’s name), the policy is simply, “what is ours is ours, and what is yours is ours too.”