Kidnapping Democracy: How the U.S. Seizes Venezuela

Photo by Saul Loeb AFP via Getty Images files TRUMP

Happy New Year 2026 … if only… While Americans await Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on January 4, the rest of us are witnessing yet another episode of imperial violence: the literal kidnapping of Venezuela’s president and his spouse, a reminder that in the world of empires, sovereignty is only a word on paper. Let us recall: his inauguration was “crowned” with a so-called ceasefire in Gaza, which since then has claimed tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands more lives.

But for his first major headline-grabbing action, Trump secured a “trophy” like a seasoned hunter. He chose a legitimate president of a sovereign country, unlucky enough to sit atop vast oil reserves and be located in the “American hemisphere,” according to the Donroe Doctrine. Nicolás Maduro was literally kidnapped — along with his wife — and flown to the U.S. to be “brought before justice.” And what American justice is, we know well: from Allende’s overthrow to kangaroo courts, from Saddam Hussein’s brutal execution to Gaddafi’s murder without trial.

The nation may go into delirium, convinced that its “Peace President” spreads democracy and peace (in his own unique way). Meanwhile, energy resources are enriched through pillage. Maduro’s successor is already anointed — even the Nobel Committee publicly informed her that the government in Caracas must be changed, democracy must be installed.

We’ve just witnessed a new episode in America’s bloody global epic. Nothing new — nothing we haven’t seen before. And that’s not all: on Christmas, Nigeria was bombed; now there’s a new attempt to destabilize Tehran; in Gaza, the wind blew away tents, and children freeze to death. Ukraine continues to be flooded with money and weapons — attacks that seem to beg God for a nuclear response from Moscow. We knew 2026 would be chaotic, but not this fast.

Meanwhile, I’m still processing the absurd New Year’s messages from our national leaders, groveling in gratitude and admiration before Washington and Brussels. How pitiful, how lowly they are — but they are simply frightened, loyal pawns of the Empire. And perhaps rightly so.

I remember once talking to a presidential candidate about an issue crucial to our nation. I asked if he would include it in his platform. He looked at me wide-eyed: “Do you know how they treated me in the American ambassador’s office? They would even shoot down my plane if I tried!” He meant the mysterious death of Boris Trajkovski in a plane crash. I thought to myself: if you love your country and want to lead it, you must be ready to die for it. But that is merely my ideal of a sovereign president. In today’s world, it’s pure idealism.

Larger, more powerful nations bow to a lunatic Nero. And for our region, it hardly matters who sits in the White House: there’s always a blacklist of individuals, sanctioned by the U.S. on unclear criteria, and a law passed in Congress, transformed into an executive order: the Western Balkans Democracy and Prosperity Act. The details vary by country — for Macedonia, among other requirements, it means unconditional compliance with unfair and unequal agreements with neighbors and ethnic Albanians within the country — but the blueprint is clear: a Charter of Unfreedom and Subservience. Elections, constitutions, pretenses of statehood — all meaningless when you are a vassal.

Today I write, disturbed by events in Venezuela. This unusual form of aggression — the literal kidnapping of a sitting president and his spouse (à la Ceaușescu?!) — is about more than oil, more than a country in “their hemisphere.” I consider the Kremlin’s patience (despite provocations) and wonder: will the Global Majority — the rest of the world that truly constitutes the majority, outside bureaucracies of violence — continue to watch these mad imperial adventures in silence? Will they safeguard their own peace and national interests, or will it only be their turn next? Who will stop the “American cavalry”?

They understand no metaphors, no diplomacy, no decency, no desire for peace. They want to be first in the world, even if the world is already collapsing.

So, when the shock of Venezuela passes, will we wait for the next crisis and forget again? I do not know. In truth, I do know, but I have no power to act. We, dear people, could not even save Gaza from genocide, let alone the world from global violence and plunder.