The attacks carried out by the United States on Venezuela on Saturday (3) to overthrow the president, Nicolás Maduro, represent, in the assessment of experts interviewed by the Brazil Agencyrisks for multilateral organizations and Latin American countries.
American soldiers forcibly removed Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Venezuelan territory, in an action that killed the president’s security forces and caused explosions in Caracas, the country’s capital. Maduro was taken to New York and, according to the United States government, he will face charges in the country for alleged links to international drug trafficking.
Political scientist and professor of international relations at Faculdade São Francisco de Assis (Unifin), Bruno Lima Rocha says that what happened in the early hours of Saturday, when the incursion took place, is, first and foremost, an attack by the United States on the sovereignty of a country.
“Firstly, because there is no certificate in international law for the United States to operate as the world’s police force,” says Rocha.
“Secondly, because, even if the accusations against Nicolás Maduro were true – which, in fact, they are not –, the UN or the system of international institutions did not delegate the power to kidnap, capture or intervene in a sovereign country to the United States”, argues the professor.
Among the justifications presented by the US government for the attacks against Venezuela is that Maduro was linked to narco-terrorist groups that supply the US domestic market with drugs.
“From a legal point of view, this was absurd. A pure and simple imperialist aggression”, said Bruno Rocha, who classifies the action against Nicolás Maduro as a “kidnapping” and warns that the US is threatening to steal oil from Venezuela, whose reserves are the largest in the world.
Nicolás Maduro lands in New York, where he is being held by the US ABC Affiliate WABC/Reuters/Reproduction prohibited
Risks
For the researcher, other countries in the region that hold mineral wealth of US interest are at risk.
In the case of Brazil, Rocha assesses that, if the country decides on a state monopoly in the exploration of critical national minerals, this risk could increase. Other factors that could increase tension, in his view, would be signing agreements in this area with Russia and China and using currencies other than the dollar in these transactions.
However, he believes that Brazilian legislation does not tend to go this way, since the country does not have a real monopoly on strategic minerals and rare earths, in addition to allowing foreign companies to explore minerals and oil under the regulation of national agencies.
Delicate position
Professor in the Interunit Postgraduate Program in Latin American Integration at the University of São Paulo (USP) and professor at the Catholic University of Brasília (UCB), Gustavo Menon believes that Brazil finds itself in a “very delicate position” in this current geopolitical context.
In Menon’s assessment, the tendency is for Brazil to maintain its strategy of strengthening the path of diplomacy and cooperation, following its tradition of defending human rights, non-intervention and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
“Brazil views this direct armed intervention on South American soil with great concern,” said the expert. “In terms of positioning, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been signaling exactly the legitimacy of Delcy Rodrigues [vice-presidente da Venezuela] as interim president”, says the Latin America specialist.
“This unprecedented action by the US ends up breaking South America as a region of peace,” he added.
Gustavo Menon says that the US action constitutes a violation of both the principles that govern international law and that country’s domestic norms. He points out that There was no approval from the United States Congress for this military incursion, nor was there a rule or warrant issued for the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
Multilateral institutions
From an international point of view, the researchers highlight that the multilateral systems conceived after the Second World War, with the creation of the UN system, were injured by the episode.
“Basically, we are witnessing the collapse of this multilateral system. This institutionality has simply turned to dust”, argued Menon.
For Bruno Rocha, US aggression shows that Donald Trump “put institutions created after the Second World War in the trash can.”
“From the point of view of the 21st Century, it is a new moment. The UN system, an attempt at a post-World War II arrangement, has been dismantled by the United States itself.”
Trump and ministers hold press conference on attack on Venezuela REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/Reproduction prohibited
Next steps
Menon draws attention to the need to pay attention to the US’s next steps in the region. “Also because we know that the issue of oil is an essential element, and that Venezuela is the country with the largest oil reserves on the planet, in addition to being an Amazonian country.”
The researcher highlights that it is necessary to think of South America as a privileged region from the point of view of natural resources, which has entered more intensely into this contemporary geopolitical and geoeconomic race.
The USP and UCB professor says it is still not possible to know what the guardianship over Venezuela announced by Donald Trumpin order to control Venezuelan oil resources.
“What I see, for now, is the US sending a clear message to Beijing and Moscow, in the sense that Latin America is a region historically influenced by the US. And, more than that, in the sense that the law of the strongest will increasingly prevail,” Menon added.
Bruno Rocha says it is worrying to see a superpower with a far-right ruler invade a sovereign country in Latin America.
“This represents a threat to all other countries. Whether through direct military interference, as in Venezuela; or through a threat of a financial reward, as in the legislative election in Argentina; or through a fraud operation, as in Honduras.”
