Maduro abducted
JVL Introduction
Peter Beinart’s immediate reaction to Trump’s kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro is a strong and forthright condemnation. It is wrong, period.
Nor will it stay abroad, but merely strengthen the lawlessness people in the US are experiencing at home.
Beinart speaks as one of these who justified the invasion of Iraq in 2003, buying the justifications given for the war at that time.
He has learnt a lot from that:
“it’s about the long history of the United States assigning to itself the right to violate the sovereignty of other countries in a way that we would never, for a second, permit if it was done to us, and in fact, we would denounce and do denounce wholeheartedly if it’s done by other powers, be it Russia or China or anybody else.”
He hopes this will be the opportunity for the Democratic Party establishment to speak with clarity and to wholeheartedly and forthrightly denounce this intervention.
We, for our part, are not holding our breath…
RK
This article was originally published by The Beinart Notebook on Sun 4 Jan 2026. Read the original here.
Maduro aAbducted
Trump’s lawlessness overseas will accelerate his lawlessness at home
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The USA seems to be acting in a time-worn fashion going back two centuries. The Monroe Doctrine was a start of regional interfering. The short-term success of the Pearl Harbor attack, despite its shame and infamy, demonstrated the value of surprise without a declaration of war. Present thinking has often been counter-productive or chaotic overall. We are supposed to have learned from past errors of judgement. We are now all supposed to abide by international law. Just watch present events unfold.
Not one of Beinart’s better articles IMO.
When he says “it’s about the long history of the United States assigning to itself the right to violate the sovereignty of other countries in a way that we would never, for a second, permit if it was done to us, and in fact, we would denounce and do denounce wholeheartedly if it’s done by other powers, be it Russia or China or anybody else.” he is clearly wrong.
The USA, does not denounce such deeds when done by its allies (overt or covert). The most obvious example, for readers here, is Israel.
Israel violates sovereignty almost daily, and commits mass murder of tens of thousands with the arms, money and political support of the USA – whichever party is in power. Israel kills senior leaders of governments and political parties around the region – they don’t bother with extraction and trials.
Maybe I’m obsessed but I’m sur[prised that peter hasn’t made any reference to Israel/Palestine. Israeli officials from Netanyahu down have identified Maduro and Venezuela as threats to be eliminated. It’s part of the preparation for attacking Iran.
As for the DP, I think any hopes he hes there are badly mistaken, but its his country not mine, so I won’t comment further.
“And so I think it’s just really important that regardless of what people say about Nicolás Maduro and the particular justifications that will come out here, this is not about those particular justifications…”
Totally agree with Peter Beinart. Let’s stick to the basic point: Trump, not for the first time, is chipping away at international law. If one nation can pass national laws which it insists overrides international law, the laws which irritate a superpower, it attacks the very reason international law was established.
I see a likely parallel between the rapturous reaction of Venezuelan in Florida and the Cubans much sought after for opinion who similarly settled in Florida following US actions on Castro’s Cuba. In that case the Cuban ex-pats did not approve of Castro’s decision to cleanup the mafia-run, playground for rich, dodgy Americans. I suspect the demonstrations of Venezuelans now living in Florida don’t reflect the majority opinion in Venezuela.
The real reason the US is invading Venezuela goes back to a deal Henry Kissinger made with Saudi Arabia in 1974. Why is this actually about the SURVIVAL of the US dollar itself? Not drugs. Not terrorism. Not “democracy.” This is about the petrodollar system that has kept America the dominant economic power for 50 years. And Venezuela just threatened to end it. Here’s what really just happened: Venezuela has 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. The largest on Earth.
But here’s the part that matters:
Venezuela was actively selling that oil in Chinese yuan. Not dollars.
In 2018, Venezuela announced it would “free itself from the dollar.”
They started accepting yuan, euros, roubles, anything BUT dollars for oil.
They were petitioning to join BRICS.
They were building direct payment channels with China that bypass SWIFT entirely.
And they were sitting on enough oil to fund de-dollarization for decades.
The entire American financial system is built on one thing: The petrodollar.
In 1974, Henry Kissinger made a deal with Saudi Arabia: All oil sold globally must be priced in US dollars
In exchange, America provides military protection.
This single agreement created artificial demand for dollars worldwide.
Every country on Earth needs dollars to buy oil.
This lets America print unlimited money while other countries work for it.
The petrodollar is more important to US hegemony than aircraft carriers.
And there’s a pattern of what happens to leaders who challenge it:
2000: Saddam Hussein announces Iraq will sell oil in euros instead of dollars.
2003: Invaded. Regime change. Iraq’s oil immediately switched back to dollars. Saddam lynched. The WMDs were never found because they never existed.
2009: Gaddafi proposes a gold-backed African currency called the “gold dinar” for oil trade.
Hillary Clinton’s own leaked emails confirm this was the PRIMARY…
[cut to our limit of 300 words – admin]
Twas ever thus! Powers seeking legitimacy and support especially military support always claim some grievous wrong by the party it attacks. The underlaying reason has often been hidden until more recently. The power of the internet and alternative media than that controlled by the dominating power has been available diluting the message. The motives of the powerful are always to retain the power they have, and to gain more whenever possible.
Diamond Versi’s comment is very informative indeed. Can we see the last bit ? It seems unnecessarily rule bound to cut it off mid sentence? I think it’s interesting that Peter Beinart supported the Iraq invasion and regime change – and presume that was also connected to Zionist beliefs at the time. I would have been interested for him to enage more deeply with what he now sees as his false imperialist beliefs of the time, how he emerged from them and whether he is still working through them in other aspects of his world view. He has now reached a position that many on the left have held for decades. I suppose its a generation thing.
Further to Diamond Versi’s exposition (above) of the centrality of the petrodollar.
We are probably also witnessing a crude reaction to the tentative early stages of China’s evolving economic war against the long-term hegemon. Bearing in mind that the greater proportion of US dollars are held outside of the United States.
Keep an eye on the electroyuan as the next dominant currency.