The overnight US operation in Venezuela on January 3, 2026, which ended with Nicolas Maduro being taken to New York, became, in the view of experts interviewed by Novaya Gazeta Europe, a turning point for international law. International lawyer Gleb Bogush argues that Washington had neither UN or ICC authorization nor Caracas’s consent, while a head of state enjoys presidential immunity.
After the operation, officials in Donald Trump’s administration sharply escalated their rhetoric toward other countries in the Western Hemisphere. Stephen Miller told CNN that the world is governed by force, and the State Department published a photo of Trump captioned as referring to “our hemisphere.” Professor Vladimir Ruvinsky of ICESI University sees this as evidence of a new version of the Monroe Doctrine, also reflected in the US national security strategy.
According to Ruvinsky, if the Venezuela operation meets no effective response, Washington may adopt this model of regime change elsewhere in the region. The article adds that the reported demand to push China, Russia and Iran out of Venezuela, cited by ABC News, fits the same logic.
Cuba, Colombia and Mexico are already under direct pressure. Trump publicly threatened Colombian President Gustavo Petro, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled that Cuba’s authorities should “be worried.” Cuban analyst Armando Chaguaceda said stronger sanctions and covert operations are more likely than an open invasion. On Mexico, Trump said cartels supposedly run the country, and expert Tomas Legler interpreted this as an attempt to expand US influence under the banner of fighting drug trafficking and migration.
Another line of pressure concerns Greenland. According to US media reports, the White House is again discussing buying the island from Denmark and, if that fails, does not rule out a military option. On January 6, 2026, the leaders of Denmark, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland issued a joint statement calling Arctic security a key European priority.
The experts agree that international mechanisms are currently unable to stop such a US course. Bogush notes that the American veto in the UN Security Council blocks collective action, while the situation benefits many states because it restores sphere-of-influence politics. In his view, this also makes it easier for Russia and China to justify their own actions and accelerates the breakdown of the order established after World War II.