Today an illegal coup in Venezuela, but where next? Donald Trump talks peace but he is a man of war | Simon Tisdall

TThe overthrow and reported capture by US invading forces of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s hard-line socialist president, will send a shiver of fear and dismay around the world. The coup is illegal, unprovoked and regionally and globally destabilizing. This upends international norms, ignores sovereign territorial rights and potentially creates an anarchic situation in Venezuela itself.

It is a politics of chaos. But this is the world we live in now – the world according to Donald Trump.

The direct attack on Venezuela marks an extraordinary and dangerous assertion of unfettered American power and comes the same week that Trump threatened to launch military strikes against another unpopular anti-Western regime: Iran. It follows months of escalating U.S. military, economic and political pressure on Maduro, including deadly maritime attacks on the boats of suspected drug traffickers.

Trump claims to be acting to prevent illegal narcotics from entering the United States through Venezuela and to stop an alleged influx of “criminal” migrants. Echoing the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, he is also accused of coveting Venezuela’s enormous oil and gas resources – suspicions reinforced by repeated and illegal US seizures of Venezuelan oil tankers.

But Trump’s main motivations appear to be personal animosity toward Maduro and a desire to revive the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine by creating a sphere of American influence and domination throughout the West.

Regional leaders, including Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has clashed with Trump in recent months, have greeted the coup with outrage and concern; Perhaps because they fear they too will become victims of Washington’s new aggressive hegemony. Cuba’s left-wing government is particularly concerned. It is largely dependent on the Venezuelan regime for cheap energy and political and economic support.

Marco Rubio, the American Secretary of State, has made no secret of his desire to see a change of regime in Havana. Also in Panama, the level of anxiety will be high. Trump has already threatened military action there to control the Panama Canal. Indeed, Maduro’s capture recalls the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama and the overthrow and arrest of then-dictator Manuel Noriega.

Authoritarian and undemocratic regimes around the world will be closely watching Trump’s next moves, as will Washington’s Democratic allies. Iran condemned the coup. He has good reason to be afraid. But Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is perhaps not entirely unhappy with the defenestration of his Venezuelan ally.

Trump’s unprovoked use of violence is not that different from Putin’s actions during the invasion of Ukraine. Both illegally attacked a neighboring country and sought to overthrow its leaders. For China’s Xi Jinping, whose forces carried out military action last week against the “separatists” of Taiwan, Trump has just created a precedent that he could one day follow with pleasure.

Trump’s coup is of great concern to Britain, the EU and Western democracies. They should, and must, condemn him unequivocally. This directly calls into question the rules and principles of the international order that they hold dear. The United States has once again ignored the UN and traditional methods of resolving interstate disputes. And he is acting apparently without much concern for what happens next in Venezuela.

The government in Caracas has been decapitated, but other senior regime officials appear to remain in place. They call for resistance and, potentially, retaliation against the United States. There are unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties. If a power vacuum occurs, law and order could collapse, triggering a civil war or possible military coup. And it’s unclear whether the latest U.S. military action has ended or whether it could escalate further.

The idea that opposition leaders in exile, like 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, will quickly return and that full democracy will now be restored is naive. The next few days will be critical. And it all depends on Trump.

Trump’s reckless action should finally put an end to his consistently misleading characterization of himself as a “world peacemaker.” It is high time that Keir Starmer and other European leaders publicly recognized him for what he is: a global warmaker, a universal threat.

Every time it loudly ventures into conflict zones, such as between Russia and Ukraine or between Israel and Palestine, setting deadlines, issuing ultimatums, picking favorites and monetizing misery, the quest for a just and lasting peace is set back.

No wonder peace is elusive. And strangely, even though he presents himself as a selfless, non-interventionist peacemaker, Trump is simultaneously waging war against the world. The United States carried out a record number of airstrikes in the Middle East and Africa last year, surveys show.

Since returning to power a year ago, the peace-loving Trump has bombed Yemen, carelessly killing many civilians after relaxing the rules of engagement; bombed Nigeria, with counterproductive effect; bombed Somalia, Iraq and Syria; and bombed Iran, where he falsely exaggerated the success of U.S. strikes against nuclear facilities. He even refuses to rule out a bombing of Greenland, the sovereign territory of Denmark, a NATO ally.

What’s going on in Trump’s head? A benign interpretation is that when it comes to war and peace, he has no idea what he’s doing – no strategy, no ideas – and makes up his policies as he goes along, based on how he feels.

The sinister interpretation says that he knows exactly where he stands, that the worst is yet to come. Like previous presidents in their second terms who lost their way domestically, Trump believes that the global stage offers greater opportunities for the exercise of power and ego. He is building a legacy in blood.

Trump’s irresponsible and dangerously erratic behavior is getting noticeably worse. His “success” in Venezuela could encourage him to commit even larger and more disorderly attacks. Like Marc Antony without the toga and the brains, he struts and struts, shouts chaos! and let the dogs of war escape.