"Last week in Caracas was not an invasion, it was a putsch. It was the militarised kidnap of one ruler to aid his more amenable deputy into power. Since April last year, according to reports, vice-president and now interim president Delcy Rodriguez and her brother Jorge the president of the Venezuelan national assembly have been dealing secretly with Washington. This has reportedly been via that hotspot of informal diplomacy, Qatar."
"We have yet to know the details. But the rumours are plausible that last week's episode was staged to look outrageous, including Delcy Rodriguez's initial condemnation of it as atrocious. The only slip was Trump describing Delcy as quite gracious before she was hastily sworn into office soon after the raid. A more serious slip was his dismissal of the opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, as lacking the support within or the respect within the country."
"That the affair was an outrage against international law should of course be acknowledged. But the US has rarely paid that law much attention. The surprise is that there is so much surprise. One president after another has found the manifest destiny of the US, to proclaim and promote freedom wherever needed, more appealing. That the Caracas attack was also unconstitutional, in that Congress alone has the right to declare war, is supposedly covered by it being merely law enforcement."
Last week in Caracas was a putsch involving the militarised kidnap of President Nicolas Maduro to install vice-president Delcy Rodriguez as interim president. Reported secret negotiations between Delcy Rodriguez, her brother Jorge, and Washington allegedly began in April and reportedly passed through Qatar. The episode may have been staged to appear outrageous, including Delcy Rodriguez's initial condemnation. President Trump made public missteps praising Delcy and dismissing opposition leader Maria Corina Machado's domestic support. The affair breaches international law and appears unconstitutional despite being framed as law enforcement. Historical US interventions show a recurring pattern of proclaimed foreign freedom aims and mixed international responses.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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