US attacks Venezuela, proclaims imperial overlordship; SJB-UNP rapprochement; Devananda’s destiny

2026 begins a period of wars arising from the Trump administration’s project to recover the USA’s ‘unipolar moment’ in the face of relative decline occasioned by the rise of China and the tendency towards a more multipolar world.

- By Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka

Minister Devananda (centre) with Antonio Guterres (right) and SL's Ambassador/PR, Geneva, April 2009

Washington seeks to reverse this relative balance and restore outright imperial dominance through the greatest edge it still has, which is no longer economic but military; no longer ‘soft power’ or ‘smart power’ but sheer hard power.The fulcrum of contemporary world history, where all global contradictions are concentrated, is Venezuela (which may be supplemented by Iran).

The unprovoked US military attack on Venezuela in peacetime and the cartel-like kidnapping of President Maduro and wife, constitute a gross violation of that country’s national independence and sovereignty, international law and the UN Charter.

The unilateral onslaught and subsequent announcement that the US (i.e., members of Trump's Cabinet) would ‘run’, be ‘in charge’ or ‘run the policy’ of Venezuela, particularly its oil industry for an unspecified period, marks an attempt to return to a century or more ago, of gunboat diplomacy and imperialist diktat, where the US ran various Latin American countries. In Nicaragua, that saw the emergence of one of the 20th century’s most iconic guerrilla leaders, Augusto Cesar Sandino.

Knocking over or knocking off a leader is one thing; facing the historical blowback proves far more difficult (e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan). On behalf of the oil companies, the US-UK overthrew Iran’s Mossadegh (1953), causing a tectonic opinion shift which produced the Iranian Revolution and the Islamic Republic 25 years later. On behalf of the United Fruit Company the CIA overthrew Guatemala’s Arbenz (1954), motivating and catalysing the evolution of 26-year-old Argentinian medical doctor and adventure-seeking motorcyclist Ernesto Guevara de la Serna who was touring Guatemala at the time, into the immortal, inspiring icon Che Guevara.