Maduro’s capture is about drugs, immigrants and China

US action unifies three aims of Trump administration but violates international law

- Bhagyashree Garekar US Bureau Chief

No muddy boots marching on distant soil and, certainly, no high-minded ideas of nation-building.

The US military operation that whisked away Venezuela's sitting President from a fortified compound in the heart of capital Caracas neatly unified three aims of the Trump administration — stopping the flow of illicit drugs across the southern border, snuffing out illegal immigration and countering China’s lengthening shadow over Latin America.

In the extraordinary early morning operation on Jan 3, 150 US military aircraft first disabled Venezuela’s air defences. Then, helicopters dispatched an “extraction” team to snatch Nicolas Maduro and his wife of more than 30 years, Cilia Flores.

Handcuffed, blindfolded and wearing noise-cancelling headphones, Maduro was captured on TV cameras as he landed in New York to face “American justice on American soil”.

The two are set to face drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges emerging from a 2020 indictment, in a trial that could begin as early as Jan 5 in the Southern District Court of New York.

Few doubt that Maduro oversaw a brutal regime that repressed political freedoms and human rights and enabled drug trafficking. But the US strikes were illegal under international law: The United Nations charter forbids such actions unless they are for self-defence against an imminent threat. Even then, the use of force must be necessary and proportional.

And as head of state, Maduro was entitled to full personal immunity from prosecution in US courts. The catch here is that he was not recognised as a legitimately elected leader by the US and many other nations, even though he enjoyed close relations with US geopolitical rivals China and Russia.

The timing of Maduro’s capture, just hours after he had reportedly met a Chinese envoy to reaffirm strategic ties, sent a message to China that the Western Hemisphere remains a US sphere of influence where Beijing’s presence will be challenged.