{"id":154205,"date":"2026-01-09T10:17:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T09:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/?p=154205"},"modified":"2026-01-09T15:42:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T14:42:42","slug":"trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Donald Trump celebrated the New Year by marking \u201chis\u201d territory and opening the door to a new division of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Europe, paralysed, takes note, with its approving silence, of the death of the rule of law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Donald Trump and his senior officials have hailed Operation Absolute Resolve, the raid on Caracas and the capture and abduction of Venezuelan president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, on January 3, 2026, as an outstanding military success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also easy to argue it was a blatant and unashamed violation of international law<\/a>. And it signals a further erosion of what is left of the rules-based international order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The temptation for the White House now is to declare victory and quickly move on to other targets while the world is still stunned by the audacity of kidnapping a sitting foreign leader. The people and leaders of Cuba<\/a> (long an obsession for Trump\u2019s secretary of state, Marco Rubio), Colombia<\/a> (the largest supplier of cocaine to the US) and Mexico<\/a> (the key route through which fentanyl gets into the US) will be deeply worried about their future prospects in a Trumpian world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As will Greenlanders, particularly in light of Trump\u2019s comments<\/a> over the weekend that the United States \u201cneed[s] Greenland from the standpoint of national security\u201d. Not to mention the ominous tweet<\/a> by Maga influencer, Katie Miller \u2013 the wife of Trump\u2019s influential deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller \u2013 showing a map of Greenland in the colours of the US flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US president certainly won\u2019t be discouraged by the meek response from many European officials. This has been deeply disconcerting, signalling that many of the most ardent defenders of international law appear to have given up pretending it matters any more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The European Union (EU)\u2019s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas<\/a>, was first out of the block, with a post that started by pointing out Maduro\u2019s lack of legitimacy as president and ended with an expression of concern for European citizens in Venezuela. She just about managed to squeeze in that \u201cthe principles of international law and the UN charter must be respected\u201d. But this sounded like \u2013 and most likely was \u2013 an afterthought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A subsequent joint statement<\/a> by the EU26 (all member states except Hungary) was similarly equivocal and did not explicitly condemn Washington\u2019s breach of international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British prime minister, Keir Starmer<\/a>, focused his statement on the fact that \u201cthe UK has long supported a transition of power in Venezuela\u201d, that he \u201cregarded Maduro as an illegitimate president\u201d and would \u201cshed no tears about the end of his regime\u201d. Before closing with his desire for a \u201csafe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people\u201d, the former human rights lawyer briefly reiterated his \u201csupport for international law\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz<\/a>, however, wins the prize for prevarication. As well as making almost identical comments about Maduro\u2019s lack of legitimacy and the importance of a transition in Venezuela, he also noted that a legal assessment of the US operation is complicated and that Germany will \u201ctake its time\u201d to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The view from Moscow and Beijing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While there was a mixture<\/a> of enthusiasm and worry across Latin America, the strongest condemnations came from Moscow and Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin<\/a>, had signalled his support for Maduro early on in the escalating crisis at the beginning of December. A statement by the Russian foreign ministry<\/a> on January 3 initially merely offered support for efforts to resolve the crisis \u201cthrough dialogue\u201d. In subsequent press releases, Russia has taken a stronger line, demanding<\/a> that Washington \u201crelease the legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his spouse\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China similarly expressed concern<\/a> about the US operation as a \u201cclear violation of international law\u201d. A foreign ministry spokesman urged Washington to \u201censure the personal safety of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, release them at once, stop toppling the government of Venezuela, and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\t

\r\n\t\t
FIND THIS ARTICLE INTERESTING?<\/div>\r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\tSign up now for our (free) newsletter<\/a> to make sure you don't miss out on other publications of this type. \t\t<\/div>\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n\t\n\n\n

Moscow\u2019s position in particular is, of course, deeply ironic. To condemn the US operation<\/a> as an \u201cunacceptable violation of the sovereignty of an independent state\u201d may be correct. But it is hardly credible in light of Moscow\u2019s decade-long war against Ukraine that has involved the illegal occupation and annexation of nearly 20% of Ukraine\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China, on the other hand, can now have its cake and eat it in Taiwan, which, unlike Venezuela, is not widely recognised as a sovereign and independent state. With regime change back on the international agenda as a seemingly legitimate endeavour, little is left, from Beijing\u2019s point of view, of the case against reunification \u2013 if necessary by force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s actions against Venezuela may not have accelerated Chinese plans for forceful reunification, but they will have done little to deter them. The episode is likely to have emboldened more Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carving up the world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All this points to a further gradual conversion of American, Chinese and Russian great power interests<\/a> \u2013 to have their recognised spheres of influence in which they can do as they please. But while China<\/a> and Russia<\/a> may be unable to do much about their now-deposed ally Maduro, there is no obvious or straightforward way to delineate where one sphere of influence begins and another one ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expectation of a carve up of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing also explains the lack of European outrage over Trump\u2019s operation against Venezuela. It signals a European realisation that the days of the liberal international order are well and truly over. Europe is unlikely to take a futile stand that would only risk being abandoned by Trump and assigned to Putin\u2019s sphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the contrary, European leaders will do their utmost to gloss over differences with the US and try to capitalise on an almost throwaway remark by Trump at the end of his press conference on Saturday<\/a> January 3, that he is \u201cnot thrilled\u201d with Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What matters for Europe now are no longer the niceties of international norms. It\u2019s now a question of keeping the US and its mercurial president on side in the hope of being able to defend Ukraine and deter Russia<\/a> from further aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such efforts to accommodate the US president are only going to work to some extent. Trump\u2019s decision to restate his ambition to annex Greenland, whose vast critical mineral resources he covets, plays into his vision of absolute dominance in the western hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This revival of the two century-old Monroe doctrine (recast by Trump as the \u201cDonroe doctrine\u201d) was outlined in the new US national security strategy<\/a> in December 2025. It clearly does not end with regime change in Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategy set out to \u201creestablish conditions of strategic stability across the Eurasian landmass\u201d or \u201cmitigate the risk of conflict between Russia and European states\u201d. But further destabilising the transatlantic alliance by threatening the territorial integrity of Denmark over Greenland and possibly abandoning Europe and Ukraine to the Kremlin\u2019s imperial designs are likely to have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, if the Venezuela incursion further encourages Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea and possibly a move on Taiwan, it will hardly achieve America\u2019s aim, spelled out in the national security strategy, of preventing military confrontation with its most significant geopolitical rival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like other US regime change efforts since the end of the cold war, US action in Venezuela is likely a self-isolating and self-defeating move. It signals a return of law of the jungle for which the US, and much of the rest of the world, will ultimately pay a heavy price.\"The<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
Recommended reading<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t
\"In<\/div><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\tMaduro: how can justice be served when the prosecutor is the occupying force?\r\n\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n
\r\n\t

\"StefanSTEFAN WOLFF<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stefan Wolff is professor of International Security at the University of Birmingham, UK. A political scientist by background, he specialises in the management of contemporary security challenges, especially in the prevention and settlement of ethnic conflicts and civil wars, and in post-conflict reconstruction, peacebuilding and state-building in deeply divided and war-torn societies. His expertise includes geopolitics and in particular great-power rivalries in Eurasia.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump celebrated the New Year by marking \"his\" territory and opening the door to a new division of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Europe, paralysed, takes note of the death of the rule of law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":154196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[3613,4275,2769],"ji_location":[2539,2553],"class_list":["post-154205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-international-law","tag-nicolas-maduro-en","tag-politics","ji_location-united-states","ji_location-venezuela"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Donald Trump celebrated the New Year by marking "his" territory and opening the door to a new division of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Europe, paralysed, takes note of the death of the rule of law.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Donald Trump celebrated the New Year by marking "his" territory and opening the door to a new division of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Europe, paralysed, takes note of the death of the rule of law.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JusticeInfo.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-09T09:17:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-09T14:42:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"791\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stefan Wolff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stefan Wolff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"OpinionNewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Stefan Wolff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/900a3387dd01aa568d077fa5d36adcfd\"},\"headline\":\"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-09T09:17:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-09T14:42:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html\"},\"wordCount\":1313,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"international law\",\"Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\",\"politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html\",\"name\":\"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-09T09:17:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-09T14:42:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Donald Trump celebrated the New Year by marking \\\"his\\\" territory and opening the door to a new division of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Europe, paralysed, takes note of the death of the rule of law.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":791,\"caption\":\"On 3 January 2026, US President Donald Trump announced to the press that US forces had captured Venezuelan Head of State Nicol\u00e1s Maduro after launching a \u2018large-scale strike\u2019 against the South American country. Photo: \u00a9 Jim Watson \/ AFP\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"JusticeInfo.net\",\"description\":\"For justice to be done, it must be seen\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Justice Info\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png\",\"width\":1199,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Justice Info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Stefan Wolff\",\"url\":\"\/en\/?s=Stefan Wolff\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it","description":"Donald Trump celebrated the New Year by marking \"his\" territory and opening the door to a new division of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Europe, paralysed, takes note of the death of the rule of law.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it","og_description":"Donald Trump celebrated the New Year by marking \"his\" territory and opening the door to a new division of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Europe, paralysed, takes note of the death of the rule of law.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html","og_site_name":"JusticeInfo.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","article_published_time":"2026-01-09T09:17:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-09T14:42:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":791,"url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Stefan Wolff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it","twitter_creator":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_site":"@justiceinfonet","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stefan Wolff","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html"},"author":{"name":"Stefan Wolff","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/900a3387dd01aa568d077fa5d36adcfd"},"headline":"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it","datePublished":"2026-01-09T09:17:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-09T14:42:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html"},"wordCount":1313,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg","keywords":["international law","Nicol\u00e1s Maduro","politics"],"articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html","name":"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-09T09:17:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-09T14:42:42+00:00","description":"Donald Trump celebrated the New Year by marking \"his\" territory and opening the door to a new division of the world between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Europe, paralysed, takes note of the death of the rule of law.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/USA_Donald-Trump-Venezuela-press-conference_@Jim-Watson-AFP.jpg","width":1200,"height":791,"caption":"On 3 January 2026, US President Donald Trump announced to the press that US forces had captured Venezuelan Head of State Nicol\u00e1s Maduro after launching a \u2018large-scale strike\u2019 against the South American country. Photo: \u00a9 Jim Watson \/ AFP"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/154205-trump-on-venezuela-the-rule-of-law-is-naked-lets-not-talk-about-it.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump on Venezuela: the rule of law is naked, let\u2019s not talk about it"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","name":"JusticeInfo.net","description":"For justice to be done, it must be seen","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization","name":"Justice Info","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/justiceinfo_logo-trans_1200x1200px.png","width":1199,"height":1200,"caption":"Justice Info"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/","https:\/\/x.com\/justiceinfonet","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/justice-info","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyCEsARodyuWtkWyhn-e7pA"]},{"@type":"Person","name":"Stefan Wolff","url":"\/en\/?s=Stefan Wolff"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154205"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154215,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154205\/revisions\/154215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154205"},{"taxonomy":"ji_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ji_location?post=154205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}