Category World News

The abduction of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro was an attack by the United States that skirted not only international law but also US political limits, an analyst says.

It is part of the US’s “new imperialistic era” centred on oil and strategic interests and risks normalising similar actions by other powers, Sultan Barakat, senior professor at the College of Public Policy at Qatar’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University, told Al Jazeera.

US President Donald Trump is “bypassing … international law. He’s bypassing Venezuelan law, … and he doesn’t seem to give a damn about what the people of Venezuela really think or want”, Barakat said.

Trump-era policies and rhetoric have “mutated” US politics as nationalism has intensified and Christianity has become more entwined with governance – trends that will distort the existing international order, he added.

The US bombed Venezuela on Saturday, abducting Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and taking them to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.

Trump said the US will “run” Venezuela and tap its oil wealth, the clear reason behind the attack, couched in flimsy law enforcement rhetoric, according to Barakat.

The illegality of Trump’s action

International law is clear on what the US did, Barakat said: It’s illegal.

A state cannot seize or remove the leader of another sovereign state unless the United Nations Security Council authorises the use of force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

The 2011 intervention in Libya when the country’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi was deposed had Security Council authorisation.

“But even then, it should not]have been] at all about regime change. It]can only be] in defence of a prosecuted people … to prevent genocide, to prevent crimes against humanity”, Barakat said.

In Iraq, a US-led coalition invoked what turned out to be unfounded allegations of weapons of mass destruction as justification to invade the country and topple President Saddam Hussein without initial UN authorisation.

Yet “when they captured]Hussein], they did not attempt to extract him from Iraq. They tried him inside Iraq”, he said.

Post‑9/11, Barakat said, international law has allowed cross‑border actions against “terrorist groups” when such actions are used to prevent “terrorist operations” in the acting state’s territory.

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Trump for New Year’s Eve, there were discussions between the pair attempting to link Maduro to Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinian groups in the hopes he could be labelled under the US Terrorism Act, which Barakat called tenuous attempts to “borrow” legitimacy from existing counterterrorism mechanisms.

Jurisdictional hook

According to Barakat, international law declares that a military strike on the territory of another state without its consent a violation of that nation’s sovereignty.

Interventional states have justified their actions in some conflicts by obtaining the consent of a sovereign state, such as in Syria, where he claimed operations against ISIL (ISIS) were portrayed as taking place with the consent of the Syrian government.

Instead of relying on a US domestic court in Venezuela, Maduro is being charged with drug trafficking as a fugitive in Venezuela.

However, Barakat said it is problematic to use a US indictment to justify removing a foreign head of state from his nation. A suspect is typically detained in the state that has international agreements or is extradited through Interpol.

The US president is now citing ICC proceedings against Maduro, Barakat said, despite Trump’s “total disregard” for international law and supporting Netanyahu, who is facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).

At the UN Security Council on Monday, Washington is unlikely to face significant criticism from its allies, who oppose Maduro.

The US has been accused of breaking international law by Russia, China, and other Venezuelan allies. Without blatantly mentioning Washington, European states have called for the protection of international law.

evaluating international standards’ restrictions

Israel has abducted people abroad (such as Nazi war criminals in Argentina) and tried them in Israel, according to Barakat, and the Venezuela operation has a particular impact in the Middle East, where it has for decades.

The analyst claimed that Israel and the US can learn from one another, with one’s impunity strengthening the other’s capacity to justify similarly repressive actions.

Netanyahu cited US and British actions in Iraq and Afghanistan as examples of using force against people he dubbed “terrorists” during Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza, according to Barakat.

He said, “I believe they will probably use the Israeli precedent to justify what they’ve done in Venezuela right now,” adding that he believes.

According to this logic, other nations might attempt to apprehend Israeli leaders for breaking international law. Despite the fact that several ICC member states have pledged to detain Netanyahu in their own countries, Barakat claimed that they lack the “guts” to carry out a cross-border extraction in the manner of the US.

The analyst claimed that in addition, the US’s decision to seize control of Venezuela could give Russia and China a justification for similar extraterritorial seizures.

“If I were]Russian President Vladimir Putin, I would be thinking, “How can I get Zelensky?” Barakat cited China’s potential attempt to do something similar with Taiwan, he said.

Barakat emphasized that the current international order is fundamentally undermined by the precedent set in Venezuela.

A truly new world order, possibly bipolar and more confrontational, could emerge if China, an emerging global power, responds to global crises militarily rather than through economic influence as it has been, the professor said.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is to appear in a New York court on Monday, two days after he was abducted by US special forces in a military operation in Caracas.

The US military arrested Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday and brought them to New York, where they face multiple federal charges, including drugs and weapons charges.

Here is more about Maduro’s scheduled court appearance:

When and where will it take place?

Maduro is to appear before a federal judge at noon (17:00 GMT).

The appearance is scheduled to happen in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in the Southern District of New York. Maduro is to appear before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.

A court spokesperson told NBC News that Flores, who is also listed as a defendant in a US indictment unsealed on Saturday, will appear in court on Monday as well.

What are the charges?

According to the indictment, the US accuses Maduro of being at the forefront of corruption to “use his illegally obtained authority” to “transport thousands of tons of cocaine” to the US with his coconspirators.

Additionally, the indictment alleges that Maduro has “tarnished” every public office he has held. It adds that Maduro “allows cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit, for the benefit of members of his ruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members”.

Maduro faces four counts:

• Count 1, narcoterrorism conspiracy: US prosecutors say Maduro and his coconspirators knowingly provided something of financial value to US-designated “foreign terrorist organizations” and their members. The indictment lists these organisations as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a leftist rebel group that signed a peace deal in 2016 but has dissidents who refused to lay down their arms and are still involved in the drug trade; Segunda Marquetalia, the largest dissident FARC group; National Liberation Army, another leftist Colombian rebel group; Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel; Los Zetas/Cartel del Noreste, another Mexican drug cartel; and Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang.
• Count 2, cocaine importation conspiracy: It accuses Maduro and his codefendants of conspiring to manufacture, distribute and import cocaine into the US.
• Count 3, possession of machineguns and destructive devices: The indictment accuses the defendants of possessing, carrying and using machineguns in relation to the above drug‑trafficking counts.
• Count 4, conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices: It further accuses the defendants of conspiring to use, carry and possess those weapons in furtherance of drug trafficking.

The indictment also says Maduro and his codefendants should forfeit to the US government any proceeds and assets obtained from the alleged crimes.

Is there evidence for these charges?

There is little evidence that drugs are trafficked from Venezuela on a large scale. The 2023 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report said global cocaine production hit a record of 3,708 tonnes, up nearly one‑third from 2022, with most coca cultivation taking place in Colombia, followed by Peru and Bolivia.

Trafficking routes into the US in 2023-2024 primarily passed through Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, not Venezuela, although it does serve as a minor transit corridor for Colombian cocaine moving into the eastern Caribbean.

Who is named in the indictment?

Maduro

Maduro, 63, who became Venezuela’s president in 2013, was declared the winner of 2024’s election. His re-election was rejected as fraudulent by the US and independent observers, such as the Carter Center. A UN expert panel said the 2024 vote failed to meet international standards.

Nine Latin American countries called for a review of the results with independent oversight.

Maduro defended the election results and accused his opponents of undermining the country’s sovereignty.

Since returning to the White House nearly a year ago, US President Donald Trump has expanded sanctions and punitive measures against Maduro and senior officials in his government.

The Trump administration ramped up military pressure starting in August when it deployed warships and thousands of its service members in the Caribbean near Venezuela. It has since carried out dozens of air strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats, killing more than 100 people.

Maduro has pushed back by mobilising Venezuelan military personnel.

During this time, the Caracas-based news network Globovision quoted Maduro as saying: “From the north, the empire has gone mad and, like a rotten rehash, has renewed its threats to the peace and stability of Venezuela.”

But a day before Saturday’s US attack on the country, Maduro had offered to hold talks to combat drug trafficking.

Flores

Flores, 69, has been married to Maduro since 2013.

Known as the “first combatant” rather than first lady, Flores is a veteran lawyer and politician who rose to prominence by defending future President Hugo Chavez after his failed 1992 coup. She helped secure his release and later became a key Chavismo figure and the first woman to preside over Venezuela’s National Assembly. Chavismo, which promotes socialism and anti-imperialist politics, is the political movement started by Chavez, Maduro’s mentor.

The indictment accuses Flores of joining Maduro’s cocaine importation conspiracy.

Other defendants

The indictment names four other people as Maduro’s coconspirators, namely Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s interior minister; Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, former Venezuelan interior minister; Nicolas Maduro Guerra, Maduro’s son and a Venezuelan politician; and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of Tren de Aragua, which was designated as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the US in February. But most experts do not define Tren de Aragua as a “terrorist organisation”.

It is not clear yet who will represent Maduro, Flores and the other defendants.

Who is the judge?

Hellerstein was born in 1933 in New York. He was appointed to the federal bench in 1998 by former President Bill Clinton.

He is likely on Monday to advise Maduro and Flores about their rights and ask them if they want to enter a plea.

What’s at stake?

Maduro’s freedom is primarily at stake. If convicted, he could face 30 years to life in prison.

“This is less about Maduro as it is about access to Venezuela’s oil deposits,” Ilias Bantekas, a professor of transnational law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera. “This is the number one target. Trump is not content with just allowing US oil firms to get concessions but to ‘run’ the country, which entails absolute and indefinite control over Venezuela’s resources.”

Venezuela’s oil reserves are concentrated primarily in the Orinoco Belt, a region in the eastern part of the country stretching across roughly 55,000sq km (21,235sq miles).

While the country is home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves – at an estimated 303 billion barrels as of 2023 – it earns only a fraction of the revenue it once did from exporting crude due to mismanagement and US sanctions.

Last month, Trump accused Venezuela in a post on his Truth Social platform of “stealing” US oil, land and other assets and using that oil to fund crime, “terrorism” and human trafficking.

Trump repeated his false claims after Maduro’s arrest. During a news conference on Saturday, Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” could be carried out.

“Given the opposition of all South American states, save for Argentina, to US dominance in the region, Trump’s plan requires a vast military deployment. We need to see how countries like Brazil and Colombia react to this, including also BRICS,” said Bantekas from Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

In a joint statement released on Sunday, the governments of Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay said the US actions in Venezuela “constitute an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security and endanger the civilian population”.

Was Maduro’s abduction legal?

This case is unusual because there are questions about how Maduro was captured and whether it was legal. Russia, China and other Venezuelan allies have accused the US of violating international law.

“If there was an armed conflict between Venezuela and the USA and, given that Maduro is the head of his country’s armed forces, then he would be a legitimate target,” Bantekas said.

“However, under the circumstances, there is no armed conflict between the two countries, and in the absence of an armed attack by Venezuela against the US, the latter’s invasion in Venezuela violates article 2(4) of the UN Charter, as does the abduction of the country’s president. It is a blatant act of aggression.”

Article 2(4) of the UN Charter bars UN members from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

A UN Security Council meeting on Monday will discuss the legality of the US abduction of Maduro.

“Given that Maduro is already in US custody and in the USA, it is in the interests of all parties that he appear before a court. At the very least, Maduro can challenge the legality of his arrest and the jurisdiction of the court,” Bantekas said.

“The court itself has an obligation to decide if it has jurisdiction and as a preliminary issue decide whether Maduro enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution. If these issues are dispensed, the court nonetheless finds that it has jurisdiction and that Maduro does not enjoy immunity, then the prosecution must prove its case.”

What’s next?

The Trump administration has not explicitly stated a clear plan for Venezuela, and analysts said it has sent out confusing signals.

In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that Washington will not govern Venezuela on a day-to-day basis. He also told ABC News the US would “set the conditions” to ensure that Venezuela is no longer a “narcotrafficking paradise”.

On the same day, Trump told reporters that the US is ready to carry out a second military strike on Venezuela if its government refuses to cooperate with his plan to “resolve” the situation there.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez could “pay a very big price” if she “does not do what’s right”, Trump said.

A day earlier, Trump said Rodriguez had told Rubio that she would do what the US needs her to do. “She really doesn’t have a choice,” Trump said.

On Monday, Rodriguez offered to cooperate with Trump. In a statement posted on social media, she invited Trump to “collaborate” and sought “respectful relations”.

“President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war,” she wrote.

Nicolas Maduro, the abducted Venezuelan leader, was spotted as he made his first appearance after being taken by the US military on Saturday at a New York City courthouse.