NEWS & VIEWS
Trump's Aggression Against Venezuela
10 January 2026
“We are going to rebuild the oil infrastructure.”
Donald Trump, 3 January 2026.
“Last night on the orders of the President of the United States and in support of a request from the Department of Justice as the President said the United State military conducted an apprehension mission in Caracas, Venezuela…”.
Dan Cain, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 3 January 2026.
“This is a President of action…”
Marco Rubio, U.S. Foreign Secretary, 3 January 2026.
“We live in a world in which, you can talk about international niceties and everything else, but we live in a world, in the real world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”
Stephen Miller on CNN, 6 January 2026.
“The Trump administration has secretly authorized the C.I.A. to conduct covert action in Venezuela, according to U.S. officials, stepping up a campaign…”
Julian Barnes et al, “Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela”, New York Times, 15 October 2025.
“The picture that emerges from these images is that of a military operation in furtherance of a law enforcement mission—an operation laser-focused on the capture of Maduro with minimal collateral damage. This was not a “shock and awe” campaign intended to bring the entire Venezuelan security apparatus to heel with overwhelming force, although that too would be within U.S. capabilities given the force posture in the southern Caribbean. It was thus unlike the U.S. air attacks against Iraq in 1991 and 2003, where the objective was to shut the country down via a broad set of attacks on electrical, communications, and transportation infrastructure, thus forcing capitulation. No such targets were struck here.”
Ryan Berg et al, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9 January 2026.
“Principles such as those of the non-use of force, non-intervention, respect for the independence and territorial integrity of States, and the freedom of navigation, continue to be binding as part of customary international law…”
International Court of Justice, Nicaragua v. United States of America, Case Concerning Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua, Judgment, 26 November 1984, para.73.
The military operation conducted by the U.S. Army to bomb and invade Venezuela on 2 January 2026 to abduct its sitting President, Nicolas Maduro, constitutes a crime of aggression. Article 8bis of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which the United States is not a member of, rather imposes sanctions against given its activities regarding America’s and Israel’s international crimes, defines the crime of aggression. The definition has its origins in pre-existing international customary norms that apply to states and capture individual criminal responsibility of violating officials, also by the principle of universal jurisdiction, either when they are in office or upon retirement.[1]
The definition of Article 8bis of the ICC’s statute follows the one adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974 that completed initial attempts to formulate the concept following the Second World War. Not being a member of the ICC does not absolve states and individuals from international individual criminal responsibility, as the ICC statute is undoubtedly a central instrument in proclaiming existing customary norms, in line with the spirit of Article 21.[2]
Article 5(2) of U.N. General Assembly resolution 3314 of 1974 prohibits any justification to engage in the crime of aggression: “No consideration of whatever nature, whether political, economic, military or otherwise, may serve as a justification for aggression.” The crime of aggression is a violation of the United Nations Charter, particularly articles 2(4) and 51, which bar the use or threat of use of force in international relations and regulate their legitimacy in addition to humanitarian intervention. Articles 8bis(2)(a)-(d) of the ICC statute reflect the Trump administration’s gravely illegal conduct against Venezuela:
For the purpose of paragraph 1, “act of aggression” means the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations. Any of the following acts, regardless of a declaration of war, shall, in accordance with United Nations General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974, qualify as an act of aggression:
(a) The invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof;
(b) Bombardment by the armed forces of a State against the territory of another State or the use of any weapons by a State against the territory of another State;
(c) The blockade of the ports or coasts of a State by the armed forces of another State;
(d) An attack by the armed forces of a State on the land, sea or air forces, or marine and air fleets of another State;
Trump and his subordinates attacked Venezuela in the early morning hours of 3 January 2026. The United States carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela that involved 150 aircraft, helicopters, navy vessels, and 200 special operations forces. The American aggression against Venezuela was planned, trained for, and performed with the intent to breach the country’s sovereignty and political integrity, causing serious damage during and before the attack.[3]
Hostile American policies against Venezuela are not new. They escalated under the current Trump administration, infused by at least three rationales. The first is militant anti – immigration policies in accordance with Stephen Miller’s supremacist ideology.[4] The second is imperial geopolitics centered on dominating the resources of energy and maintaining a ‘sphere of influence’.[5] The third is combating the emergence of a socialist regime in Venezuela that does not adhere to America’s dictates.[6]
In July 2025, Trump ordered the U.S. Army to prepare for a military confrontation against Venezuela.[7] The military followed suit, generating a significant military buildup.[8] Since September 2025, the Trump administration has initiated an illegal campaign of lethally targeting civilian boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. The pretext is as unpersuasive as the actual killings: combating drug trafficking.[9] Trump boasted about these killings and claimed that they were consistent with the laws of war.[10]
By October 2025, Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela,[11] an illegal act that further demonstrates the crime of aggression in early January 2026. Reporting on this authorization from firsthand sources, the New York Times also included in its coverage a series of heinous illegalities, primarily political assassinations and coups, executed by the CIA in Latin America without any sense of criticality, rather with a gesture of deranged, frustrated pride.[12] The goal of the Trump administration’s plan, designed by U.S. Secretary of State Rubio and CIA director Ratcliffe, is uncontestable: “to oust Mr. Maduro from power”. [13]
Since assuming his second presidency, Trump has decided to shape history economically and militarily while avenging his treatment by his domestic political adversaries. Like any other president before him, his loyalty to Israel has been uncompromising because of the takeover framework that shapes the functioning of the Israel lobby. Despite the America First slogan, Trump has been the Israel lobby’s puppet in his first and second terms, culminating in his complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Even leaders in Latin America are aware of this fact and are split domestically about the Question of Palestine, hoping to please or defy the all-mighty American president. Maduro is no exception.
Trump and his team have committed one of the most serious international crimes in Venezuela. Both the United States as a country, as well as the specific individuals involved, are now tainted with the perpetration of the crime of aggression. The purpose is undisputed. The discharge is glaring. The justification is dismissible. The only barrier to holding American officials accountable in a genuine court of law at this stage of their careers is their official position in a stumbling empire. But that shall not last forever.
Trump and his team announcing the illegal military operation in Venezuela. Source: Reuters, 3 January 2026. From left to right: White House’s Miller; CIA’s Ratcliffe; State Department’s Rubio; War Department’s Hegseth; and Army’s Cain.
Lawless Trump leader of the notorious CIA. Source: PBS, 29 April 2025.
Stephen Miller. Source: CNN, 6 January 2026.
[1] International Court of Justice, Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium), Dissenting Opinion of Judge Van Den Wyngaret, 14 February 2002.
[2] See Yudan Tan, The Rome Statute as Evidence of Customary International Law (Brill / Nijhoff, 2021).
[3] Peter Nicholas et al, “A CIA team, steel doors and a fateful phone call: How the U.S. captured Maduro in Venezuela”, NBC News, 4 January 2026.
[4] Andrew Roth, “How Stephen Miller is turning the US state department into an ‘anti-immigration machine’”, The Guardian, 31 October 2025.
[5] The White House Proclamation, America 250: Presidential Message on the Anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, 2 December 2025; Eugene Willard Miller, “Petroleum in the Economy of Venezuela”, 16(2) Economic Geography, pp.204-210 (1940); Stephen Rabe, The Road to OPEC: United States Relations with Venezuela, 1919 – 1976 (University of Texas Press, 1982); Michelle Billig, “The Venezuelan Oil Crisis: How to Secure America's Energy”, Foreign Affairs, pp.2-7 (2004); Henry Kissinger, “The Oil Price and International Security”, Tribune Media, 11 September 2008.
[6] See Timothy Gill et al, “Two Decades of Imperial Failure: Theorizing U.S. Regime Change Efforts in Venezuela from Bush II to Trump”, 8(2) Class, Race, and Corporate Power, article one (2020).
[7] Charlie Savage et al, “Is the Trump Administration Building Up to a Military Confrontation With Venezuela?”, New York Times, 22 August 2025.
[8] Eric Schmidt, “U.S. Military Buildup in Caribbean Signals Broader Campaign Against Venezuela”, New York Times, 20 September 2025.
[9] Riley Ceder et al, “A list of US military strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels”, Military Times, 6 November 2025.
[10] Charlie Savage, “U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says”, New York Times, 14 October 2025.
[11] Julian Barnes et al, “Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela”, New York Times, 15 October 2025.
[12] See also Andrew Rosenthal et al, “U.S. Troops Gain Wide Control in Panama; New Leaders Put in, but Noriega Gets Away”, New York Times, 21 December 1989.
[13] Julian Barnes et al, “Top Trump Aides Push for Ousting Maduro from Power in Venezuela”, New York Times, 29 September 2025. See also Tom Phillips, “US threatens Venezuela with ‘crippling’ measures as Trump meets Guaidó”, The Guardian, 5 February 2020.
