P Chidambaram writes: A new sheriff in town

Donald Trump II has proved to be the most interventionist president in U.S. history. The tally includes Palestine, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria and now Venezuela. This is the ugly face of the self-appointed new Sheriff.

Two hundred years after the Monroe Doctrine was declared by the 5th President of the United States, and despite the widespread doubt about its power and efficacy, the doctrine was invoked by the 47th President of the United States. The present circumstances were, I think, not imagined in 1823.

President James Monroe’s eponymous doctrine warned European powers against interfering in the affairs of newly independent nations in the Americas. On the night of January 2/3, 2026, President Donald Trump transgressed every basic tenet of the doctrine. He used USA’s military power to invade a sovereign country in the Americas, capture the elected President, and whisk him away to be tried by a criminal court in New York. It was an astounding enlargement of the Monroe doctrine. No foreign power had interfered in the affairs of Venezuela. The people of Venezuela had elected Nicolas Maduro as President, although the outcome of the election was bitterly contested. Mr Maduro may have turned undemocratic and authoritarian but he is not the first elected ruler to have done so.

The new doctrine deserves to be called the Bush-Trump doctrine. The closest parallel was the U.S.’ interference in Panama (1989). Under President George Bush Sr., the U.S. military invaded Panama, defeated the Panamanian forces, forced President Noriega to seek refuge in the Vatican’s Embassy, and eventually surrender. The declared goal was regime change. With that military action, the U.S. became the new Sheriff in the Americas.

President Bush Jr became Sheriff in Iraq and three Presidents (Bush Jr, Obama and Trump), successively, became Sheriff in Afghanistan. In the case of Iraq (2003), a fake threat of Iraq possessing WMD (weapons of mass destruction) was invented and, in the case of Afghanistan (2001-2021), troops were sent as part of the ‘war on terror’ against al Qaeda and the Taliban regime. Both wars were spectacular failures. In the latest case of Venezuela, the U.S. accused President Maduro of drug trafficking and conspiring to smuggle narcotics into the U.S., but they are still charges unsupported by any public evidence.

From Mr Trump’s pronouncements, it is clear that Mr Maduro was a casualty in the pursuit of the goal to control Venezuela’s oil wealth. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world and was pivoting toward China in oil exports, arms imports and foreign investment. The U.S. is determined not to allow any other country (especially Russia and China) to acquire economic interests in Venezuela (especially oil wealth) which are ‘reserved’ for the United States. Shortly after the capture of Mr Maduro, President Trump candidly said that large U.S. oil companies will be allowed to “produce and sell’ Venezuelan oil and ‘make money’.

The 4-hour operation, coded Absolute Resolve, was a demonstration of the U.S. armed forces’ vastly superior technology, machinery, intelligence, planning and execution. To enter another country in the middle of night and snatch the Head of State from a heavily-protected presidential house —and without suffering any casualty — belonged, we thought, to fables and fantasy, but America proved that its military could do it. The U.S. military is the most lethal war machine built in the history of the world. Alarmingly, there is also evidence of the making of a new Sheriff of the World, barring China.

India went unnoticed before and after Absolute Resolve. Mr Trump has already snubbed Mr Narendra Modi twice with his claims: once, on ending the India-Pakistan war and next, on India reducing its imports of Russian oil to please Mr Trump. The government is so scared of earning Mr Trump’s wrath that the official statement on Venezuela did not condemn the capture of President Maduro or even mention the role of the United States. The statement referred to “recent developments in Venezuela”, and called upon “all concerned to address issues peacefully through dialogue”, as if it were counseling on a dispute over the score at a football match!

On this issue, India is isolated among the five founders of BRICS and from Europe. Despite the boast of Vishwaguru, India is losing voice and relevance in world affairs. As a former Indian Ambassador said, ‘what India said would not make a difference’.

Absolute Resolve has, I am afraid, given a free pass to Russia and China. Mr Trump has hinted that he will grab Greenland. The resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war — if it happens — will involve Ukraine ceding territory to Russia. China will be tempted to take its ‘One China’ policy to its logical conclusion. If China makes another attempt to intrude into India’s northern border or Arunachal Pradesh, India will be left to fend for itself. After seizing control of Venezuela’s oil reserves, the U.S. has less interest in concluding a trade agreement with India. Mr Trump can manipulate India’s export of goods to the U.S. — allow more or less into his country — by playing with tariffs without a trade agreement.