A-Infos (en) France, OCL: "A World Governed by Force." The Attack on Venezuela and the Conflicts to Come (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

https://fr.crimethinc.com/2026/01/06/a-world-governed-by-force-the-attack-on-venezuela-and-the-conflicts-to-come 
---- Below, we publish a reaction from North American comrades to the US 
military intervention in Venezuela, published on crimethic.com on 
January 6. ---- "We live in a world governed by force, by power," 
Stephen Miller[1]told CNN host Jake Tapper on January 5, 2026, thus 
exposing the fascist agenda and justifying the conquest of Greenland by 
force. "These have been the immutable laws of the world since the 
beginning of time."

Early in the morning of January 3, the Trump administration launched a 
dramatic operation against Venezuela, bombing at least seven targets in 
Caracas and abducting President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Celia 
Flores. This operation marked the culmination of a year-long pressure 
campaign during which the administration labeled Venezuelan immigrants 
in the United States as "narco-terrorists," attempted to enforce the 
Enemy Aliens Act, bombed ships suspected of carrying drugs, seized oil 
tankers, and deployed the U.S. Navy to blockade Venezuela.

The Trump regime initially accused Maduro of leading the "Cartel de los 
Soles," a fabrication as pure and simple as the term "antifa." Although 
they revised this accusation yesterday to make it more legally credible, 
their method typically involves starting with a false narrative and then 
trying to force it onto reality. One of Donald Trump's main objectives 
was to release a photo of Nicolás Maduro in chains, echoing the photos 
released by federal agencies showing people abducted by ICE. Instead of 
improving anyone's economic conditions, Trump offers his supporters the 
perverse pleasure of identifying with jailers and torturers. His goal is 
to dehumanize his opponents and desensitize everyone to the violence 
necessary to maintain his rule and capitalism itself in an era of 
declining profits.

The mainstream media are playing their classic role as loyal opponents, 
questioning the legality of the action while demonizing Maduro and 
praising his right-wing opponent, María Corina Machado. For anarchists 
and all those fighting against imperialism, it is necessary to place the 
attack on Venezuela in a broader context, to consider what an effective 
opposition might look like, and to identify how to respond.

The rules of the game
The United States government has a long history of imperialist 
interventions in Latin America, including more than a century of 
operations against Cuba, the bloody military coup in Chile in 1973, and 
George Bush's invasion of Panama in 1989. The attack on Venezuela is 
part of a series of more recent interventions, from George W. Bush's 
invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 and 2003 to Joe Biden's 
dismantling of the "rules-based international order" to allow Benjamin 
Netanyahu to perpetrate genocide in Palestine starting in 2023.

At the same time, the Trump administration's program marks a break with 
previous norms. By seeking to exploit resources through brute force, 
without any pretense of any other objective, Trump joins Vladimir Putin 
and Benjamin Netanyahu and ushers in an era of pure and simple rapacity.

While Trump's allies have cited the rigged 2024 elections in Venezuela 
to justify the attack, Trump does not claim to be establishing elections 
or "democracy" in Venezuela. Some sources claim that the opposition led 
by María Corina Machado enjoys the support of nearly 80% of the 
Venezuelan population, but Trump maintains that it lacks sufficient 
support to govern; he is likely referring to the lack of support from 
the military. Trump himself would prefer to collaborate with an 
autocratic regime that would be directly accountable to him. He, too, 
would prefer not to be held accountable in elections, whether in 
Venezuela or the United States.

Trump is using the war as a pretext to avoid a domestic crisis. While 
Trump and a group of anti-communist Republicans have long called for 
regime change, and the naval presence in the Caribbean has intensified 
since August, this coup is orchestrated to monopolize media attention 
and divert attention from his plummeting popularity and a series of 
legal setbacks related to Trump's deployment of the National Guard. 
Meanwhile, evidence of his complicity in Jeffrey Epstein's child sex 
trafficking and rape ring is finally beginning to erode his electoral base.
As autocrats lose their grip on power, they become more dangerous and 
unpredictable. Netanyahu's maneuvers to evade his corruption 
scandal-including his propensity to sacrifice hostages to further his 
genocide-are telling in this regard. Faced with one crisis, these 
leaders create others to divert attention from their subjects. Any 
effective opposition must keep the focus on what Trump is trying to 
conceal. That's what he fears most.

Understood as a media operation, the attack against Venezuela is an 
attack against all of us: an attempt to intimidate all those who might 
resist the Trump regime, to make us accept that state violence will 
continue to intensify no matter what we do, to convince us that we are 
not the protagonists of our time.

As we pointed out in 2025 , Trump largely modeled his strategy on that 
of authoritarian leaders like Vladimir Putin. When Putin became Prime 
Minister in August 1999, his approval rating was even lower than Trump's 
is today. He solved this problem by starting the Second Chechen War, 
which dramatically reversed the polls in his favor. Subsequently, with 
each dip in popularity, he repeated this maneuver-by invading Georgia in 
2008, Crimea and the Donbas in 2014, and Ukraine in 2022-gradually 
consolidating his grip on Russian society until he could afford to send 
hundreds of thousands of Russians at a time into the hell of war.

Putin has instrumentalized the war in Ukraine to consolidate his 
domestic control, and in Russia, this goes far beyond simply suppressing 
protests. Faced with a deteriorating economic situation, Putin must 
project an image of constant strength and brutality while managing an 
increasingly restless and desperate population. By forcibly sending 
young men from poor rural families to the battlefields, Putin keeps them 
occupied. If a few hundred thousand of them never return home, so much 
the better: they won't appear in the unemployment statistics, and the 
police won't have to suppress their protests. Similarly, conscription 
has driven thousands of people capable of leading a revolution to flee 
the country. This strategy will be repeated elsewhere as the global 
crisis of capitalism intensifies.

The main difference between the two contexts lies in the fact that, 
while the United States is far more powerful than Russia, Trump's power 
is nowhere near as solid as Putin's. Furthermore, after the disastrous 
occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, American voters are much less 
inclined to accept operations that endanger the lives of American soldiers.

Trump is neither a particularly rigorous tactician nor a brilliant 
strategist. He systematically resorts to threats and intimidation to 
achieve his goals, exploiting the cowardice and weakness of his 
contemporaries. He undoubtedly believes that intimidation will suffice 
to bend Latin American governments to his whims without the need for 
further military action. If this strategy fails, he likely intends to 
use military technology, mercenaries, and other means of exerting 
pressure without having to send American troops to occupy Venezuela or 
other countries. But war, once it begins, follows its own logic. If the 
Trump administration persists down this path, American forces could very 
well find themselves drawn into open conflict.

Following the attack on Venezuela, Trump and his allies threatened to 
take similar measures against Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Denmark, and other 
countries. They will not hesitate to do so if they feel they are in a 
position of strength, but even if the situation turns sour, Trump might 
try to use such maneuvers to deflect attention from his weakness.

The return of the loot
Capitalism was born from colonial plunder, and faced with shrinking 
profit margins in the global economy, governments are reverting to this 
archaic strategy of accumulation. This explains Putin's annexation of 
land in Ukraine, Netanyahu's persistent attempt to exploit the genocide 
for the purposes of gentrification, and Trump's latest intervention in 
Venezuela.

In a document entitled "  National Security Strategy  " of November 2025 
[2], the Trump administration explicitly committed to applying a "Trump 
Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine, aimed at "restoring American 
preeminence in the Western Hemisphere" in order to "deprive 
non-hemispheric competitors of the ability to deploy threatening forces 
or other capabilities, or to possess or control strategically vital 
assets, in our hemisphere."

Trump magnanimously embraced the renaming of this geopolitical strategy 
the "Donroe Doctrine," asserting that "American dominance in the Western 
Hemisphere will never again be questioned." This is, of course, about 
oil, as Trump emphasized-Venezuela possesses 17% of the world's 
reserves-but also about a way to compete with China, a major investor 
and importer in the Venezuelan oil industry. China buys 80% of 
Venezuela's oil exports and has supported the industry with over $60 
billion in loans since 2007. This strategy predates Trump: the 
reinterpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, focused on competing with China 
and Russia in the Global South, was a key element of the 2024 National 
Security Strategy Commission, established under the Biden 
administration. This commission explicitly advocated competing with 
China and Russia to exert influence in Latin America regarding "the 
development and exploitation of natural resources, as well as 
infrastructure and power projection capabilities." While Trump 
represents a shift toward autocracy, the geopolitical and economic logic 
was already in place.

In other words, Trump's unscrupulous brutality offers the ruling class a 
solution to a problem faced by capitalists of all stripes: the scarcity 
of opportunities.

Trump's plan to hand over resource extraction in Venezuela to American 
oil companies represents a new phase of colonial plunder, a return to 
the direct seizure of other countries' assets. This plan must be 
understood within the broader context of stagnation and 
financialization. Historically, it echoes earlier periods of "systemic 
chaos" [3]. When falling profits forced capitalists to turn to financial 
speculation, the workings of the global capitalist system experienced 
difficulties until their reconstitution into a new order through mass 
violence. The most relevant recent example is the period from 1914 to 
1945, marked by the two world wars of the 20th century.

This is not simply about oil; it is a means of consolidating the 
conditions for capitalist profit in general, and a foretaste of 
larger-scale violence to come. We are entering a phase of relations 
based on brute force, not on the rule of law or diplomacy, and this 
attack-like the Trump presidency itself-is a symptom, not the cause.

But this marks a break with the nationalist and populist imperialism of 
the past, where regimes plundered the resources of the world's 
peripheries to improve living standards in the heart of the empire. 
Trump's offensive against Venezuela aims to favor an increasingly small 
handful of capitalists. The white middle and working classes are no 
longer seen as "subordinate partners" of colonial enterprises and have 
less and less reason to identify with them.

The question of leadership
Initially, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez adopted a defiant 
tone, before quickly backtracking and adopting a more conciliatory 
rhetoric. This stance fueled speculation about possible cooperation on 
her part with the Trump administration, or even about cooperation 
already underway.

Several scenarios are possible, and it is difficult to determine the 
truth. Perhaps the United States has placed Delcy Rodríguez in a 
terrifying situation, but she is showing courage; perhaps the Trump 
regime has already been secretly negotiating with her, and she intends 
to adopt a firm stance while facilitating the American resource 
extraction program; perhaps there is something else. Whatever the case, 
the vulnerability of Chavismo remains [4]. The kidnapping of its 
leader-and the possibility that Rodríguez or other elements of the 
Venezuelan government are complicit, or will become complicit, in 
Trump's plan to seize control of Venezuelan resources-both underscore 
the fact that all hierarchies represent a point of failure for 
liberation struggles.

We have already seen how the leaders of previous revolutionary left-wing 
movements, such as the government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, were 
forcibly integrated into the workings of neoliberalism and compelled to 
impose capitalist austerity measures and state control on the 
populations under their rule. Faced with these failures, some conclude 
that the only path to sovereignty is control by a powerful nation-state 
equipped with nuclear weapons. This is the logic behind "  campism  ," 
the support given to imperialist powers like Russia and China, rivals of 
the United States.

Yet, Russia and China operate according to the same authoritarian and 
capitalist logic as the current US government-and those who choose to 
support them will have no more influence over the actions of their 
leaders than Venezuelans have over those of the US government. Those who 
seek alliances with any particular geopolitical actor will inevitably 
end up defending powerless, genocidal autocrats. The real alternative is 
not isolationism, but an international popular resistance that 
transcends borders.

But for this to become a convincing alternative, citizens of the United 
States will need to develop the ability to prevent the US government 
from bombing and looting abroad.

What to expect, how to prepare
The attack on Venezuela marks the escalation of a proxy war with China. 
Reorienting the industrial base, particularly the technology sector, 
towards the war effort is one solution to address economic stagnation, 
but this will only be possible if the Trump administration succeeds in 
reviving national sentiment and patriotism. It can be assumed that the 
race to fund and proliferate artificial intelligence aims to create a 
more gullible and easily manipulated population for this purpose.

In the short term, we should expect the Trump administration to once 
again attempt to use the Alien Enemies Act against Venezuelans and other 
targets. Trump and Miller's previous attempt was struck down by the 
courts because the United States was not, in fact, at war. Now that they 
have started a conflict, they will use it to declare a series of 
additional states of emergency and justify increased repression. We 
should also expect a resurgence of racist violence against Latino and 
Chinese populations, as well as reprisals against US foreign policy from 
non-state actors or proxy actors, which the Trump administration will 
seek to exploit to advance its agenda.

The midterm elections are scheduled for November 2026. Donald Trump and 
the Republicans are not favored; but Trump has already crossed so many 
red lines that he will tolerate no threat to his power. Whether through 
election interference, fraud, or, more likely, orchestrated crises to 
legitimize a state of emergency, these elections are expected to be the 
least "democratic" in recent memory. Elections alone will not get us out 
of this mess .

Faced with a growing number of crises, scandals, and obstacles, Trump 
will become more violent, unpredictable, and dangerous. This is a sign 
of weakness, but a weakness backed by the full power of the American 
military. We should expect larger-scale military confrontations by 
October, including further deployments of the National Guard and perhaps 
even the imposition of martial law.

Unpopular wars without a clear mandate-especially those that result in 
American casualties or other national sacrifices-can spell the end of a 
regime. Our duty is to make this war-along with Trump's other mistakes 
and future wars-a burden on the entire ruling class. It will take such a 
massive popular mobilization to remove Trump that we must promote 
equally ambitious proposals, not demand a return to an unpopular 
centrist status quo. Revolutionaries must be prepared to thwart centrist 
attempts to rebalance power. This may seem hard to imagine today, but 
uprisings and revolutions happen quickly. Generation Z revolutions 
toppled regimes around the world in 2024.

The protests across the United States have revived familiar slogans like 
"No blood for oil." Unfortunately, Trump concluded that his supporters 
wanted both: oil and blood. Peace movements tend to be inherently 
conservative, as they seek to influence state policy; but, like previous 
administrations, the Trump regime has made it clear that it doesn't care 
about opposition. Rather than presenting demands through symbolic 
protests, we must build horizontal movements capable of addressing needs 
through direct action. These movements should focus on the common 
conditions faced by people from Caracas to Minneapolis: poverty, 
austerity, the plundering of essential resources, control by violent 
mercenaries, and the rule of irresponsible tycoons. Resistance to 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities across the United 
States represents a promising step in this direction.

If, as Stephen Miller suggests, governments represent neither the 
desires nor the free will of the people they govern, if-as should now be 
obvious to everyone-they do not defend our interests but simply act to 
seize as much wealth as possible, then no one is obliged to obey them. 
The only question is how to muster sufficient collective 
force-sufficient popular mobilization, sufficient horizontal power-to 
defeat them.

The list of people recently incarcerated in a single Brooklyn detention 
center hints at the multiplication of global historical contradictions 
that are resurfacing in our time.
Appendix: Further Reading
To begin, readers should consult "  We denounce the imperial offensive 
against Venezuela  ," an international declaration by Latin American 
anarchist organizations published in December 2025.

To better understand the situation in Venezuela, we encourage 
Spanish-speaking readers to consult the archives of the now-defunct 
Venezuelan anarchist publication El Libertario , where one can find, for 
example, a critical assessment of Bolivarian social organizations dating 
from 2006, or a collection of texts on the role of the oil industry in 
the repression of grassroots popular movements in Venezuela and their 
integration into the global economy:

"Venezuela is participating in the process of building new forms of 
governance in the region, which have demobilized the social movements 
that reacted to the implementation of structural adjustment measures in 
the 1990s, thus re-legitimizing the state and representative democracy 
in order to comply with export quotas for natural resources to the main 
world markets."

Enabling Law : Dictatorship of Energy Capital ("The Enabling Law: 
Dictatorship of Energy Capital") in El Libertario No. 62, March-April 2011
Trump's attack on Venezuela could be interpreted as a way of continuing 
today this "process of building new forms of governance in the region".

Regarding Venezuela as well:
On Chavismo after Chavez and on Maduro's rise to power, see various 
texts on this site here or there.

The archives of the now-defunct Venezuelan anarchist journal El 
Libertario are still available in Castilian Spanish ...

P.S.
About CrimethInc.

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Notes
[1] Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House, he is Donald Trump's 
closest advisor. After imposing his views and far-right ideology 
domestically, Stephen Miller is now turning his attention abroad and 
asserting that the United States has a free hand, in Venezuela as in 
Greenland. And that the world must be governed by force...

[2] The website Le Grand continent offered a full translation and 
several comments

[3] In his book *The Long Twentieth Century* , Giovanni Arrighi argues 
that the last seven centuries have been marked by a predictable 
oscillation between periods of relatively "peaceful" and stable 
commercial expansion, during which market growth allows capitalists and 
states to make profits without significant competition, and where 
investments in production or trade generate steady profits; and 
increasingly chaotic periods of financial expansion, where 
inter-capitalist competition drives down profits and investment capital 
seeks profit primarily through financial speculation. When the growth of 
the world economy stalls, capitalists and national elites increasingly 
resort to force and plunder to maintain their profits, resulting in 
periods of "systemic chaos." These periods are remarkably violent, 
characterized by military spending and looting; historically, they end 
only when a new hegemonic power imposes a new world order and 
re-establishes the conditions for capitalist accumulation. American 
hegemony in the 20th century and the international system established by 
the United Nations played this role after World War II, but both have 
been in decline since financialization and the rise of neoliberalism in 
the 1970s, and are now proving ineffective in the face of the growing 
forces seeking to seize profits through brute force rather than 
capitalist investment. Experts lament the end of... The idealization of 
the rules-based international order and nostalgia for the United Nations 
obscure the severity of economic stagnation, focusing instead on the 
actions of nefarious figures like Trump and Putin. Any genuine solution 
to the period of barbarism into which we are entering must be of a 
greater scope and ambition than the "age of revolutions" of 1789-1848.

[4] Chavismo is the socialist movement associated with former Venezuelan 
president Hugo Chávez

https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4608
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