US capture of Maduro makes Trump no more than Putin, analysts say
The United States’ overnight capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has drawn sharp comparisons with Russia’s conduct under Vladimir Putin, with analysts warning that Washington has forfeited any remaining claim to moral leadership in global affairs.
Manny Mogato, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from the Philippines, said the operation marked a decisive break with the post-war international order.
“Donald Trump has ushered in a new world order where the military might prevail over rule of law and respect for an independent country’s sovereignty,” he said, arguing that the seizure of a foreign leader by force placed the US in the same category as the powers it routinely condemns.
Julian Borger, a senior international correspondent at The Guardian, described the strikes and abduction as a devastating blow to global norms.
“The overnight strikes on Venezuela, the abduction of its leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, and Donald Trump’s declaration that the US would ‘run’ the country and sell its oil, have driven another truck through international law and global norms,” he wrote.
For Mogato, the implications extend far beyond Venezuela, and complicates Washington’s stance in criticising Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine or Beijing’s potential use of force against Taiwan.
“Washington has lost its moral ascendancy after launching military operations in Caracas and grabbed its leader, Nicolas Maduro,” he said.
What’s the real purpose?
Hours after Maduro’s removal, the US president said his administration was ready to fix Venezuela’s oil industry and sell its output.
Borger said Trump had made clear he was “more covetous of Venezuela’s oil than motivated by a desire to bring Maduro before a court, or deliver democracy.”
He cited US analyst David Rothkopf, who labelled the shift the “Putinization of US foreign policy”, noting that Moscow has long argued that great powers are entitled to dominate their neighbourhoods by force.
Despite just days after the operation, Mogato said the consequences were already visible.
“The world has become more dangerous and chaotic in 2026,” he said, describing a landscape in which “stronger states imposed their will on smaller and weaker states.”
Borger warned that anxiety would not be confined to Latin America, pointing to Trump’s recent threats against Iran, Greenland and Cuba. Events in Venezuela, he said, would “cause immediate anxiety” among governments that now fear they could be next.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
