US President Donald Trump. (File photo)
As South Africa this weekend joined the global condemnation of the United States military invasion of the oil-rich Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, analysts warned about the adverse geopolitical effect of the move.
They predicted that the US offensive would render the world less secure, with more ructions imminent in already-strained global economic relations.
Against the background of years of sour relations with its Latin-American neighbour, the US has for months carried out airstrikes across Venezuela. On Friday explosions rocked the capital Caracas, culminating in President Donald Trump publicly announcing the capture of Maduro and Flores.
US attorney general Pam Bondi said Maduro had been indicted in New York on drugs and weapons charges and would “face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts”. Trump told a media briefing in Washington on Saturday that his administration planned to “run Venezuela” until it was economically stable, including rebuilding “their whole infrastructure” and doing “what is necessary to make Venezuela great again”.
The US navy has since late last year carried out airstrikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, seizing Venezuelan oil tankers. More than 100 people have been killed in attacks which human rights groups say could be war crimes.
Among global critics of the US’s seizure of Maduro, South Africa’s department of international relations and cooperation said the government had noted the move “with grave concern”.
South Africa viewed Trump’s actions as “a manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations (UN), which mandates that all member states refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state”, department spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said in a statement.
He said the UN Charter “does not authorise external military intervention in matters that are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of a sovereign nation”.
“History has repeatedly demonstrated that military invasions against sovereign states yield only instability and deepening crisis. Unlawful, unilateral force of this nature undermines the stability of the international order and the principle of equality among nations,” Phiri said.
South Africa called on the United Nations Security Council, “the body mandated to maintain international peace and security, to urgently convene to address this situation”, he added.
While there are internal political challenges in Venezuela, fuelled by disputed elections, it is unprecedented “that a country will take action to remove a sitting president”, said Zwelinzima Ndevu, a professor at the University of Stellenbosch’s public leadership faculty.
“There is no justification or jurisdiction for a country to intervene in matters of their neighbouring states. This is clearly a violation of international laws, something which will lead to difficult relations going forward,” Ndevu said.
“This will likely have unintended consequences, including instability and destruction of infrastructure. This should be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”
Trump had proven “to be a bully that does care about the views of others”, Ndevu added.
The majority of countries shared a similar position with South Africa on the Venezuelan question that the UN “is the place to take up this matter”, said political economist Dale McKinley.
“When you have unilateral invasions and military strikes like this, it does not only destabilise the international political situation, but it is a huge concern to countries like South Africa and others which are often at crosshairs with big powers like the US — Trump in particular,” he said.
“Similar to what South Africa represents, there is likely to be a pushback and outcry from most countries in the world — except those which are pro-Trump or scared of saying anything publicly.
McKinley said it was not acceptable to see most powerful nations “invading countries as they please, because they do not like somebody”.
“The geopolitical impact of this will make the world a less-secure place — causing more ructions in the already strained global economic relations. Any time a country is going to attack another, doing what we have just seen in Venezuela, is something that will create global tensions.
“Politically and militarily, this is going to increase global tensions and unpredictability. The important thing is going to be about what is going to happen to a new government or if this government is gone, what is going to be the situation over Venezuela’s oil reserves — the largest in the world?
“Signs of Trump’s desire for a regime change by removing Maduro, have been there since he (Trump) came to power. The latest is the more direct and final act and we still have to see reaction from Maduro supporters and his party,” he added.
The US has for decades always considered Latin-America as its backyard in many ways, McKinley said. “We have seen Trump intervening — whether it was Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Colombia and now Venezuelan elections. Sovereignty is sometimes pulled out when it is useful and violated when convenient for powerful countries to do so.”
The Media Review Network also called the US military strikes on Venezuela unlawful, with its executive member Ahmed Haroon Jazbhay describing Maduro’s capture as “brazen and illegal”.
“This act constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, the UN Charter, and the fundamental principles of national sovereignty and self-determination. This is not counter-terrorism — rather a state-sponsored terrorism and a criminal act of war,” Jazbhay said.
“The aggression, rooted in a decades-long campaign of illegal coercive measures aimed at destabilising Venezuela for its resources and political independence, represents a dangerous escalation in Washington’s disregard for global order. It sets a catastrophic precedent for the rule of the jungle over the rule of law.”
He said the Media Review Network, which describes itself as “a South African group working to expose Zionist apartheid and the occupation of Palestine”, stood in solidarity with “the people and constitutional government of Venezuela”.
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of President Maduro, the cessation of all hostile acts and the full withdrawal of all US forces from Venezuelan soil. The international community must reject this imperial aggression unequivocally and hold the United States accountable for its crimes against peace,” Jazbhay said.
South African MPs also condemned the US action. The ANC study group on international relations slammed it as “an ongoing imperialist assault” on Venezuela’s sovereignty.
“Through illegal unilateral sanctions, economic warfare and regime-change manoeuvres, the US continues to punish the Venezuelan people for exercising their sovereign right to choose an independent political path. This is not about democracy, it is about control, resources and imperial domination,” its whip Andisiwe Kumbaca said.
“As a liberation movement born out of resistance to colonialism and apartheid, the study group rejects all forms of imperialism and fascism. We stand firmly with the people of Venezuela and their legitimate government against external interference and political destabilisation.
Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi also condemned the US action as unlawful.
“This is both in terms of international law and US legislation, which state that if the US has to carry out military action against another country, it needs the permission of the US Congress – something which has not happened in this case,” he said.
“International law prohibits the attack of one country by another, to cause regime change.
“Those of us who believe in democracy subscribe to a notion that a bad government must only be replaced by a democratically-elected government – not through a quo – either engineered locally or by a foreign country.”
But anticipating the criticism of the US by the international relations department, even before it issued its statement, Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder — whose party is a member of South Africa’s government of national unity formed after May 2024 general elections — said the censure will be done in all our names, but it will not represent our views”.
“The end of the socialist failure in Venezuela should be welcomed.” Mulder posted on social media network X on Saturday.