"The American abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is undoubtedly a massive and significant historical moment. Yet, despite the headlines it has generated and the victories the US government is touting, it is being simultaneously treated as something of a banal event-an expected move for the American government to undertake. The news of the seizure by American law enforcement of the leader of a sovereign state was met with some pro forma concern from the leaders of many European countries."
"Despite Greenland's being threatened by Trump in the same breath as the announcement of Maduro's abduction, there seemed to be no understanding that things could get worse. "We are not in the situation where we are thinking that a takeover of the country might happen overnight," Greenland Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Monday. "You cannot compare Greenland to Venezuela. We are a democratic country."
The American abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro represents a major breach of international norms and illustrates a growing normalization of extraordinary U.S. actions against foreign leaders. Western leaders reacted with muted concern and relief, revealing complacency despite the destabilizing implications. Greenland's leaders downplayed the risk of similar actions, emphasizing democratic structures, while the U.S. approach treats actors primarily as 'terrorist' or 'non-terrorist' regardless of regime type. The operation invites comparison to the 1989 capture of Manuel Noriega, though Noriega's arrest followed a full-scale invasion. The event exposes tensions between U.S. strategic objectives and established international law.
Read at The Nation
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