The military invasion of Venezuela by the United States and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro represent a risk for all Latin American countries. Experts interviewed by Agência Brasil point out that President Donald Trump’s action violates all international norms and the Charter of the United Nations, constituting an attack on a sovereign country and ignoring the people’s right to self-determination.
“The principle of respect for the sovereignty of States has already been disrespected, which means that all States in our region are at the mercy of United States intervention, according to the mood of the President of the United States, with the interests of North American companies. Our entire subcontinent is, therefore, left to the will, to the discretion of Mr. Donald Trump”, said Williams Gonçalves, retired professor of international relations at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj).
He also considers it regrettable and unacceptable that this action is accepted by States, as is the case of the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, and even by political groups within the countries. “It is a true betrayal of the entire struggle that the Argentine people fought to defend their independence, to defend their autonomy. The same can be said about the political groups within Brazil that welcome, that celebrate something like this,” he said.
Gonçalves, who is also a researcher at the National Institute of Science and Technology for Studies on the United States (INCT-INEU), explains that welcoming the intervention in Venezuela is a true invitation for Donald Trump, arbitrarily, to decide when and why he will invade Brazil or neighboring countries. He adds that Trump uses rhetoric typical of 19th century imperialism and colonialism.
“All heads of state should be united and resorting to all legal and political instruments, to condemn this intervention as strongly as possible. Our military should be speaking out, stating that, in Brazil, an intervention like this will not be tolerated”, lamented the expert.
Professor of international relations at the University of Brasília (UnB), Antonio Jorge Ramalho da Rocha states that Donald Trump’s commitment to international law is zero.
“He doesn’t understand international relations guided by norms, he understands international relations guided by force and short-term interest, by immediate motivation. This makes the world much more unpredictable, much more dangerous”, analyzed Rocha.
For the professor, the intervention establishes the possibility of a United States invasion to interfere in any sovereign government in the region. “If it’s happening now with Venezuela, let’s not fool ourselves, it could happen tomorrow with Colombia, Brazil, Peru, or any other country,” he said.
Another implication is the incentive to strengthen the internal divisions of societies. “By trying to create polarization internally, the United States finds a little more space to prevail its short-term interests, which will have no coincidence with the interests of the societies in question and the governments that are constituted there.”
“There is also clearly a sign of preferences for specific governments and interference in the electoral processes that are still ongoing in the region, with Colombia and Brazil clearly being the main targets”, mentioned Rocha. He assesses that it is necessary to defend multilateralism and a more decisive action by the United Nations, despite the institution being “completely unequipped”.
The consequences of this attack for Latin America are serious, says Rocha, and not just immediate, but long-term. “Colombia has already mobilized troops, Brazil must do the same thing, place troops on the border. If the United States decides to militarily occupy Venezuela, we will have a nightmare, we will have a government here according to Vietnam.”
In the professor’s analysis, Venezuela is very divided and the government has never been popular. “It’s a terrible government that destroyed a country, tried to implement a system much more through socialist propaganda than through reality,” he said. However, he stated that Venezuela is a sovereign country and that the invasion and removal of the president from its territory constitute a violation of international norms.
