WHO’S NEXT? OR WHAT’S NEXT?

Only a few days have passed since the shocking news of the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president and his wife, followed by the even more shocking press conference of the orange emperor. We still seem trapped in a kind of time loop, unsure how to break out of it. Over the past days, I have read, listened, and spoken with people far smarter and braver than myself. And yet, the confusion persists, because each of us, depending on our location on the globe, arrives at a slightly different conclusion about what is happening and what comes next.

At least within my own circle, we are not surprised by the reasons. American hyper-imperialism (supported by global non-state actors) is escalating, regardless of the mantra that the empire is in decline. What has caused revulsion, however, is the open and arrogant posture—the assertion that they can do whatever they please, while the rest of the world will either remain silent, join them (if it cannot defeat them), or issue STRONG CONDEMNATION, as we saw yesterday at the UN Security Council and in statements from several capitals.

So yes, we know the diagnosis. We also know the prognosis—what will follow if nothing is done. For me, this is not a sports forecast or a betting pool. Whether Greenland, Iran, or Cuba follows the lukewarm response to the aggression against Venezuela is beside the point. Not beside the point for the people affected, of course—but beside the point when viewed from the perspective of the collapse of international law and order. Some guess that this is a grand chess game against China. Yet, it does not matter as long as the world system is in ruins and nobody reacts decisively.

The American empire apparently believes it is at the peak of its power and will strike wherever it chooses (except against nuclear-armed states). This may sound depressing or defeatist, but it is simply the truth: at this moment, there is no military or political force capable of stopping the adventures of the Donroe Doctrine.

Latin America was lost even before the attack on Caracas: a dark cloud of right-wing governments, plunder of national resources, the most vulgar forms of populism—and, tragically, the support of large segments of the electorate. I found it almost surreal to see flags bearing Pinochet’s image in the streets of Santiago de Chile. Even if the left-wing government had been incompetent or paralyzed, is it really possible for a people to forgive or forget the crimes of 1973?

Then it occurred to me that I am old enough to remember them, while young Chileans may know them only as a footnote in a history textbook. For many of us, leftist ideology is deeply intertwined with this battered yet rebellious continent—even for those of us who come from former socialist countries. The legend of Che is alive. Cuba is alive, despite sanctions. The Bolivarian Revolution has not been strangled, despite everything.

Eduardo Galeano lines about The Open Veins of Latin America still ring true:

“Latin America is the region of open veins. Everything, from the discovery until our times, has always been transmuted into European—or later, United States—capital, and as such has accumulated in distant centers of power. Everything: the land, its fruits and its mineral-rich depths, the people and their capacity to work and consume, natural resources and human resources.”

But U.S. ambitions extend far beyond the “Western Hemisphere”, and those who currently feel safe would do well to remember that. Latin America is treated as something already owned, requiring little effort. As for the rest of the world, it is difficult to predict whether the countries of the Global Majority are coordinating among themselves, or what contingency plans they may be preparing. Until recently, the dominant narrative was this: the U.S. is declining economically and politically, while we—BRICS+, for example—are consolidating. At the latest Valdai Conference, one panel was explicitly framed around the idea of the West as a global minority. As I noted then, almost no one even mentioned demilitarization. It was taken for granted.

The facts suggest that advocates of a multipolar world have spoken far more than they have acted in developing a joint strategic response to a rampaging empire. Some even suspect a lack of trust among them; that each may ultimately seek to save its own skin (and interests). That is a dangerously short-sighted position. Yes, the West is a minority (Europe is irrelevant and servile), but the U.S. military-industrial complex is not merely laundering money or feeding on corruption from an enormous state budget - it is a working machinery of evil.

We have a diagnosis. The prognosis is clear: without resistance, new “Hitler” may well succeed this time. History teaches us that the world can be conquered by the sword, but one cannot sit on a throne made of swords. Despite 800 military bases across the globe and superior weaponry, the U.S. can prevail only through cognitive warfare, i.e. by lobotomizing us (especially the young) into believing that this is “the best of all possible worlds,” that they are saviors from “evil communism” (Cuba, China, or anyone who refuses to think like the imperial caste). And “resistance is futile”

But we exist. We are many. We come from different ideological backgrounds and life histories, yet our shared sense of justice, freedom, dignity, and human fraternity forms the basis for unity and resistance. The chorus of voices insisting (once again) that might makes right, that resistance is pointless, quoting Thucydides and the Melian Dialogue, is growing. It is already loud. If we ignore it, we leave even more space for the narrative of surrender: “What can we do? The U.S. is the strongest.” Nazi Germany was also the strongest, along with its allies Italy and especially Japan. Yet even in a small corner of the Balkans, a resistance movement was born. Let alone the rest of the world… They did not care about Thucydides. They did not calculate economic or military power. They fought, even when everything seemed hopeless.

Open plunder, now no longer even disguised, leaves no alternative but RESISTANCE. I regret that many failed to learn this lesson, now painfully serious, when they pretended Gaza did not matter, that it was too small, that Trump was merely joking when he spoke of a Riviera built on corpses. Had we risen together three years ago, this might not be happening today. Every concession before the lunatic, creates a madhouse for all.

The repertoire of resistance must be developed by state institutions paid to do precisely that: pressure on the U.S. where it hurts, boycotts, embargoes, demands for expulsion from the UN (don’t forget Israel). Anyone hoping that Trump’s term will simply end in “only” three years and everything will somehow be saved is deluding themselves. After Trump will come an even worse successor. It’s never about a personality, it’s about the rotten system that lives out of death and plunder.

This struggle is both class-based (the poor and dispossessed of the world—including those in America—must unite) and inter-state. Now is the moment to see who stands on which side of history. There will be no second chance.

Finally, one brief thought just came to my mind. As I watch the theatrical spectacle of the “trial” in New York, I am reminded of another one from 1928. The so-called Bomb Trial was held before the royal court in Zagreb (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) against Josip Broz Tito and five others, accused of spreading communist propaganda and possessing weapons (four bombs!). Tito served his prison sentence but is remembered for one sentence above all: “I do not recognize your court.” I cannot imagine any sane person recognizing American jurisdiction over a kidnapped commander-in-chief of armed forces—not four bombs, but an entire military—carried out in violation of the U.S. Constitution and international law, without evidence, and with a political verdict already delivered by the Secretary of War and his superior. President of the United States of the World? If they have already forced you to check Maduro’s biography, you are already inside their Matrix.

Wake up. Tomorrow, they will come for you, for us.