USA says: "America can project our will anywhere, anytime"
As Donald Trump's Administration "takes Venezuela over to run", the US shows that international law is no longer applicable and Venezuela's vast oil reserves were teh real mark.
It’s now the 5th January, and this means that Luxon has had a couple of days to get back into the full swing of work.
After all, the Prime Minister told us this, didn’t he?
Surely, the Prime Minister couldn’t be a pathological liar?
Because Aotearoa New Zealand requires leadership, now more than ever.
Over the weekend, we saw the United States of America, once the supposed “leader of the free world” and a beacon of democracy and international law, cleanly and visibly break that image in a serious breach of global order and law.
Donald Trump, an admirer of Hitler’s tactics who“wanted [his military] generals [to be] like the Nazis”, and who envied Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s powers of control over his people, has been playing out the Heritage Foundation think tank’s Project 2025 manifesto by firing top US generals and military leaders for a while now.
Those that remain will be absolutely acquiescent.
And it is with a renewed military force, and no apparent military resistance1, that the Trump Administration ordered American troops into Venezuela, kidnapped the country’s controversial leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, is charging them under US domestic gun laws, and most importantly for Trump, has announced that US oil companies and he will “make a lot of money” as a result.
A comparison of the situation room between the Obama Bin Laden mission in 2011 and the Trump Administration Venezuala hit in 2025 reveals a number of stark differences:
The latter has no verifiable military intelligence or officials, the latter has no female presence, and the latter is led by blue suits with a large X (Twitter) screen in the background where someone has typed in “Venezuala” to monitor social media reactions.
New Zealand issued a tepid response yesterday - Foreign Minister Winston Peters:
“New Zealand is concerned by and actively monitoring developments in Venezuela and expects all parties to act in accordance with international law. New Zealand stands with the Venezuelan people in their pursuit of a fair, democratic and prosperous future.”
Yet which is the only country which has breached international law here?
In comparison, Singapore’s statement is much clearer and realistic in terms of what is at stake here:
“Singapore is gravely concerned by the US intervention on 3 January 2026 in Venezuela.
Singapore is deeply committed to international law and the principles of the UN Charter that safeguard the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, especially small states. Singapore has consistently opposed actions contrary to international law by any parties, including foreign military intervention in any country.
Singapore urges all parties to exercise restraint and hopes for a peaceful resolution to the situation in Venezuela in accordance with international law and the principles of the UN Charter.”
Singapore is right.
Significantly, these actions upend all international order and laws.
Trump outlines the benefits to American oil companies: “We are going to run (Venezuela) right. It’s going to make a lot of money”
“Last year, Trump promised American oil executives “a great deal” if they donated $1 billion to his campaign. Today, he gave them Venezuela — home to the largest oil reserves in the world. This new war is not only illegal and reckless; it is deeply corrupt.”
USA Texas State Representative James Talarico January 2025
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