What the United States is signaling in Venezuela is not merely a dispute over one government, one election, or one leader. Under Donald Trump, the United States has not merely returned to coercive foreign policy; it has hyper-normalised it. Palestinian officials have been barred from entering the United States altogether. When the United States openly flouts international law, it does not merely weaken one norm—it hollows out the entire framework meant to restrain state violence. Long before Vietnam or Iraq, the United States financed proxy militias, death squads, and covert operations across the region.

Source: International New York Times January 03, 2026 16:34 UTC