Venezuela, Trump and oil: why this intervention shatters the rules-based world order

The US seizure of Venezuela’s president marks a dangerous shift where intervention is claimed openly, without legal or moral disguise

Some South American governments have welcomed the president Nicolás Maduro's removal from office by the Trump administration. Other have condemned it as a violation of sovereignty.

Shortly before dawn last Saturday, Caracas was jolted awake by the thunder of aircraft and the dull percussion of explosions. Within hours, the extraordinary had become reality: United States special forces had entered the Venezuelan capital, seized president Nicolás Maduro, and flown him out of the country. By nightfall, he was in US custody and facing charges in New York.

Donald Trump announced the operation himself, framing it as a strike against narco-terrorism and corruption. Almost immediately, he went further. The US, he said, would oversee Venezuela’s transition. Its oil industry would be brought under new management. Order would be restored.