This Could Be Just The Beginning

What does the U.S. operation in Venezuela mean?

The central fact in this story is that US President Donald Trump has engaged the US army to arrest another nation's leader, overthrow his government and realize American interests, writes BILD. The significance of this fact cannot be overemphasized:

The US is not retiring from world politics

Donald Trump has made it clear that he is willing to use military force when it comes to US interests. In doing so, Europe may cheer (as it did after the strike on Iranian nuclear facilities) or watch skeptically (as it did after Maduro's arrest), but Trump won't even consult the EU before his actions.

The US has declared South America its sphere of influence

In Trump's National Security Strategy, released in December, the US indicates that in South America, the US has the final say. Not the Russians, not the Chinese and, in case anyone doubts it, not even the people of South America. This should be taken seriously. On the RONZHEIMER podcast, security expert from King's College London Peter Neumann explains how the U.S. government thinks:

"We think that North, Central and South America is our backyard. That it's our big region. That it's our sphere of influence where we determine who is in power and where they are. And we are now demonstrating this with the example of Venezuela."

Europe should also keep in mind: in the same document, the Americans declare their desire to strengthen "resistance" in the European Union and change its political landscape. Given what happened in Venezuela, it would be naive to consider this an empty threat.

The US is showing that it wants to remain the world's number one power

The Venezuela operation is also a humiliation to Russia and a challenge to China. Overnight, Trump has accomplished in Venezuela what Putin in Ukraine has failed at for more than four years of full-scale war. Moreover, Maduro's arrest came just hours after his meeting with Chinese representatives.

This could be just the beginning

Expert Peter Neumann draws attention to statements by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to socialist Cuba: both announced "that perhaps Cuba will be next." The dictatorship in Cuba, they said, has been "a thorn in the side" of the U.S. for seven decades - "a communist island nation right off the coast of Florida."

"No American president has been able to effect regime change there. And I think Donald Trump, after his success in Venezuela, is thinking, 'Maybe I'm the president who will also end this communist regime in Cuba,'" says Neumann.

Europe needs to adjust to Trump's world

Many European politicians have responded to the US military strike on Venezuela with references to the international order and international law. This may sound noble, but it also sounds helpless. We do not only live in a world in which great powers are increasingly brutalizing their interests. We also live in a world in which Europe is no longer under the protection of the United States. Unless Europe learns to protect and defend its own interests, it is in danger of becoming a sphere of influence of foreign powers, concludes the BILD editorial board.

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