VENEZUELA
1. Some people , even well-respected media, have responded to the capture of Maduro on Venezuela, with shock. They have called it unprecedented.
2. It’s not unprecedented. Nobody should be shocked.
3. On Dec 20 1989, the US invaded Panama and captured their de facto ruler Manuel Noriega. Delta Force was also responsible. He was taken to the US, indicted, tried and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
4. The US bases its foreign policy in the Americas on the Monroe doctrine. It was first articulated by President James Monroe in 1823.
5. The Monroe doctrine states that the US considers any foreign intervention in the affairs of the Americas, as a hostile act.
6. The Monroe doctrine basically asserts that the Americas are exclusively US’s sphere of influence, and will act with force to ensure this.
7. In Nov 2025, the Trump administration released The National Security Strategy. It reaffirms and goes further than the Monroe doctrine, declaring the entire Western Hemisphere as the US’s sphere of influence. This is the Trump Corollary to the Monroe doctrine.
8. Recently, Russia and especially China have been making moves in Venezuela. China supported Maduro and even sent ships to the Gulf of Paria to help monitor US activity in Aug 2025. China is Venezuela’s biggest customer of crude oil.
9. China supplied Venezuela with military equipment including fighter jets and radar.
10. All of these defences were dismantled by the US within 3 hours. They were a complete failure.
11. The US also launched its attack whilst China presidential envoys just concluded a meeting with Maduro
12. It was the most devastating and emphatic enforcement of the Monroe doctrine.
The US is not unique in circumscribing its sphere of influence.
China sees its near-regions as its sphere of influence. This includes an ally-treaty of mutual defence with North Korea. China invaded Vietnam in 1979 to support the Khmer Rouge. China, not Trump, made the Thais and Cambodians ceasefire.
Russia has used force to protect its interests in the Caucasus region many times. It invaded Ukraine for the same reasons.
Only the truly naive moralises about international relations.
Yes, we all aspire to a system of international law , but we should not expect this to be our first line of defence.
The US is still the pre eminent superpower in the world.