Maduro was a brutal dictator. He plunged his country into the abyss, lost the election, and remained in power illegitimately. Many Venezuelans will be relieved he's gone. At the same time, this is not the way to go. The bombing of Caracas, the imprisonment of Maduro and his wife, and the seizure of power are at odds with international law. A precedent with significant risks for the rest of the world. De-escalation and focused efforts towards peaceful solutions are now crucial. The Netherlands and the EU must play their part in this.

Read my full statement:

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US sanctions in Venezuela: help, hindrance, or violation of human rights? | The Lancet - June 2019 |

We read with interest the Review about Venezuela's public health crisis and could not agree more emphatically with the authors. However, the root causes of this economic crisis, specifically, the impact of the US economic sanctions, deserve further inquiry. Since 2014, 43 unilateral, coercive measures have been applied against Venezuela by the US Administration. These have effectively paralysed the economy, blocked oil exportation globally, and frozen Venezuelan financial assets abroad while denying access to international financial systems. This loss in oil revenue and assets has amounted to a shortfall worth billions of US dollars, prohibiting the importation of essential, lifesaving products.

The impact of the US sanctions on the Venezuelan population cannot be overstated. More than 300 000 Venezuelans are at risk due to a lack of lifesaving medications and treatment. An estimated 80 000 HIV-positive patients have had no antiretroviral therapy since 2017.2 Access to medication such as insulin has been curtailed because US banks refuse to handle Venezuelan payments for this.

Thousands to millions of people have been without access to dialysis, cancer treatment, or therapy for hypertension and diabetes. Particular to children has been the delay of vaccination campaigns or lack of access to antirejection medications after solid organ transplants in Argentina. Children with leukaemia awaiting bone marrow transplants abroad are now dying.

Funds for such health-assistance programmes come from the PDVSA state oil company. Those funds are now frozen. Food imports dropped by 78% in 2018 compared to 2013.2 The very serious threat to health and harm to human life caused by these US sanctions are thought to have contributed to an excess of 40 000 deaths in 2017-18 alone.

The UN Human Rights Council reported that "the use of economic sanctions for political purposes violates human rights and the norms of international behavior. Such actions may precipitate man-made humanitarian catastrophes of unprecedented proportions. Regime change through economic measures likely to lead to the denial of basic human rights and indeed possibly to starvation, has never been an accepted practice of international relations."

These sanctions fit the definition of collective punishment of the civilian population, as described by the Geneva (Article 33) and Hague conventions, to which the USA is a signatory. These sanctions are also illegal under international and federal US law. Given the intentional action to destroy a people, in part or in whole, the US economic sanctions and their effect on the preventable mortality of Venezuelans fit the UN definition of genocide.

Similar elements to the illegal war on Iraq in March 2003.

SHOCK AND AWE

Trump Boasts About US Military Intervention in Venezuela: 5 Alarming Statements Reveal a Dangerous Power Agenda | TeleSUR |

1. A shock operation and the narrative of absolute power

In their narrative, the US military intervention in Venezuela is framed through the name of the operation: “Absolute Determination”, presented as a historic milestone similar to the “Midnight Hammer” operation carried out months earlier in Iran. The administration describes it as a lightning incursion of unprecedented magnitude since World War II, executed with such precision that the Venezuelan army allegedly surrendered without US casualties or equipment losses.

This language turns the US military intervention in Venezuela into a spectacle of power, where the tactical blackout and overwhelming technological superiority are highlighted as proof that the US possesses “the most powerful army on the planet”. The message is clear: Washington claims the right not only to attack, but to set a global standard for how to remove governments it considers hostile, normalizing preemptive and overwhelming force.

2. Legal justification and extraterritorial capture of Maduro

According to Trump and his allies, the US military intervention in Venezuela is legally justified by accusing Nicolás Maduro of narcoterrorism and of leading the so‑called “Cartel of the Suns”. They insist there is sufficient evidence to ensure his conviction, and that he will be taken to Miami or New York to face US justice after rejecting what they describe as “multiple diplomatic exits”. Behind this narrative, the US military intervention in Venezuela masks an extremely serious precedent: the extraterritorial capture of a head of state in his own country and his transfer to courts of the attacking power. Trump presents himself as a leader who “does not play games: he speaks, acts and delivers”, turning this capture into a warning to any government that dares to challenge US national security.

4. Strategic message to China, Russia, Iran and Cuba

The discourse surrounding the US military intervention in Venezuela also sends a message to other global powers. Officials warn that, from now on, any country that wants Venezuelan oil will have to negotiate directly with the United States. This places the intervention in a broader context of confrontation with China, Russia and Iran, which have invested heavily and maintained political alliances with Caracas.

At the same time, they issue a direct warning to Cuba, suggesting that its system is in decline and that it should “watch its back”. The US military intervention in Venezuela thus becomes a regional and global signal: an example of how Washington is willing to impose a new order in the Western Hemisphere, using overwhelming force, territorial control and management of resources as tools of pressure and realignment.

5. “Peace through strength” and the paradox of imposed peace

Trump concludes by framing the US military intervention in Venezuela as part of a doctrine of “peace through strength”, citing his intention to end the “bloodbath” in Ukraine as another example of his capacity to close conflicts. However, the underlying message is that peace is achieved not through negotiation and international law, but through decisive and forceful actions, like the overnight operation that toppled the Venezuelan government.

Within this doctrine, the US military intervention in Venezuela is portrayed as a necessary shock to prevent future wars, when in reality it sets a dangerous precedent of unilateral action, regime change and control over a country’s natural resources. The rhetoric of strength is used to justify a project that many international actors see as a threat to global stability and to the basic principle of sovereignty.

[work in progress - ⚠️ ]