On Jan. 3, the United States launched Operation Resolute Absolve–kicking off the new year by kidnapping the President of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro, and his wife, and increasing the already deeply fraught tensions between the two countries.
The United States has claimed its actions are because of a 2020 persecution by the Justice Department that accused Maduro of flooding the U.S. with cocaine as a weapon. Maduro appeared in court on Jan. 5 and pleaded not guilty, and will not appear in court again until March 17; he is currently being held in a prison in Brooklyn.
In the meantime, the United States is wasting no time ‘revitalizing’ the Venezuela oil industry The U.S. claims that it wishes to fix Venezuela’s poor oil industry, and there is no time being wasted in policy changes: oil exports have been redirected from China to the United States, halting the collapse of currency, and economic hopes are rising across the country. Additionally, several hundred political prisoners have been released.
However, these gains are overshadowed by the fact that the United States did kidnap, with the help of the CIA and several months of planning, the president of a foreign country, which we should not be able to do, but can under a loophole known as the Ker-Frisbie doctrine. As the head of the UN told the BBC, Trump believes that his power is more important than international law, which exists for a reason.
There are less public crimes that the United States committed earlier this year against Venezuela, including killing at least 115 citizens in boats, alleging the boats carried drugs, which has been disputed by both the people’s families and the government. In early December, the U.S. also launched an oil blockade, disrupting Venezuela’s biggest industry. Additionally, as of January, 14 journalists were detained, 13 of which were released, and foreign journalists have been denied entry into the country.
It doesn’t stop there–the United States has expressed that this oversight could last for years, despite interim president Delcy Rodriguez expressing some irritation of the close hovering. She’s Trump-backed, unlike Maria Machado, who had hoped that she would be in the running for the next leader of the country before that idea was dismissed by Trump.
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio did clarify some points concerning the capture, stating in a press release, “This is not a war. We are at war against drug trafficking operations organizations — not a war against Venezuela.”
All of this chaos only contributes to the overall atmosphere of confusion of Trump’s second term, such as the state-sanctioned violence erupting in Minneapolis. Continuing to break international law doesn’t overshadow the fact that the United States is in disarray, with ICE arresting innocent citizens left and right, and as tensions escalate with Iran. It all creates a haze of news exhaustion, leading many Americans to completely slide past news that would have broken the first page fifteen years ago, including kidnapping the President of Venezuela.
