New Delhi | The US strike on Venezuela, and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, is "unbelievable" and will set a "bad precedent", as other powers may try to undertake similar actions in future citing the American move, Indian experts on strategic affairs said on Saturday.
They also termed it a “very dangerous” and "aggressive step" taken by the Donald Trump administration.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country,” US President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social after the strike early Saturday.
The American action, which has hogged global headlines, followed a long period of tension between the US and the Maduro administration, which has been facing criticism from many of its own citizens in Venezuela over multiple allegations.
Former diplomat and strategic affairs expert Rajiv Dogra said, “Quite frankly, this is unbelievable. I mean, it has still not sunk in, because, in a way, this is unprecedented in recent times.”
It may have happened in previous centuries, when someone would “invade countries”, capture leaders of those countries or kill them, but in recent times, “we've not heard of any country acting with such little regard for law, custom or reason”, Dogra said.
“Trump has broken all the traditions, all the sanctities of sovereignty by indulging in such acts,” Dogra alleged.
The former diplomat, during an interaction with PTI Videos, argued that whether President Maduro was liked by the people of Venezuela is “a different thing” which is “for Venezuelans to decide”.
But for Trump to order his forces to lift Maduro from Venezuela stands to no reason at all, Dogra said.
The legal authority for the strike, and whether President Trump consulted the US Congress beforehand, was not immediately clear, various international media reported.
Dogra said, “I don't think the strike was sanctified either by the US Senate or the US House of Representatives or the US law. It will set a very bad precedent because some other countries, which are similarly unruly, can follow suit.”
Any country or power can easily say tomorrow that if the US can do it in Venezuela, why can't they do it with another country, or some other place, Dogra said.
“So, it's a bad precedent that Trump has set,” he added.
Dogra also said he felt disturbed that such an event took place in an age and time when the world was looking forward to more economic and technological progress.
“But ever since Trump took charge in his second term last January, he has turned the world upside down,” he said.
Brigadier Rahul K Bhonsle (retd), another strategic affairs expert, said, “The Trump administration has taken a very dangerous and aggressive step. We have to see how it plays out.”
“The tension between the US administration and the Maduro administration was brewing for some time. It was there even during (Joe) Biden’s rule. But the Trump administration has been particularly aggressive,” Bhonsle told PTI Videos in Dehradun.
This is a “very dangerous” move by the Trump administration, and Maduro’s is not a regime which is an active military opponent to the US, he said.
These are basically “drug and terror challenges”, which, the US say, are being posed by the Maduro regime that is also “ideologically opposed” to the US, Bhonsle said when asked about the possible rationale behind the strike.
“But, taking strong-arm military action against such a regime can lead to a very dangerous situation. Tomorrow, many other powers may also take this as an example and try to launch similar actions,” he cautioned.
Beijing | China on Saturday condemned the US airstrikes on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, describing it as a hegemonic act that seriously violates international law.
“China is deeply shocked by and strongly condemns the US’s blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its President,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, reacting to a question on US President Donald Trump’s announcement about American airstrikes against Venezuela and the capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
”Such hegemonic acts of the US seriously violate international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty, and threaten peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean region,” the ministry said in its reply posted on its website.
“China firmly opposes it. We call on the US to abide by international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and stop violating other countries’ sovereignty and security," it said.
China shares a close strategic partnership with Venezuela, built on political alignment, energy cooperation, and shared opposition to US and Western influence in Latin America.
In the last two decades, China has become a major buyer of Venezuela's oil despite US sanctions.
It is also Venezuela’s major investor and lender, extending tens of billions of dollars in oil-backed loans.
Washington | The United States Justice Department on Saturday released a new indictment of Maduro and his wife. In the new video, Maduro is accused of leading a “corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.”
It alleges that the drug trafficking efforts “enriched and entrenched Venezuela's political and military elite.”
US authorities allege that Maduro partnered with “some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world” to bring tons of cocaine into the US, according to the indictment.
The US carried out the lightning military strike on Venezuela early Saturday, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and spiriting them out of the country.