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The U.S. intervention in Venezuela: Global reactions and implications








Copyright © 2026

 

prepared by the Inclusive Society Institute

 

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DISCLAIMER

 

Views expressed in this report do not necessarily represent the views of

The coordinating entities or any of their office bearers

 

Original transcripts of the presentations made during a meeting held on 19 January 2026 have been summarised with the use of the AI tool and then edited and amended where necessary by the rapporteur for correctness and context.

 

FEBRUARY 2026

 

Rapporteur: Daryl Swanepoel

 

CONTENTS

 

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2 THE ATTACK ON VENEZUELA: A NEW PRECEDENT IN THE USE OF AMERICAN FORCE

3 VIOLENCE AS A SYSTEMIC PHENOMENON, NOT AN ANOMALY

4 EROSION OF EMPATHY AND THE LEGITIMACY CRISIS OF MULTILATERAL INSTITUTIONS

5 GLOBAL SOUTH PERSPECTIVES: CONSTRAINTS AND STRATEGIC AGENCY

5.1 COLLECTIVE DE-RISKING AND STRATEGIC DECOUPLING

5.2 INSTITUTIONAL RENEWAL AND NORM REINFORCEMENT

5.3 SHARED NARRATIVE AND MORAL RECLAMATION

6 REGIONAL AND GLOBAL RIPPLE EFFECTS

7 CONCLUSION - A CALL FOR DELIBERATE INTERRUPTION


Cover photo: Microsoft Copilot 2026, AI generated illustration depicting U.S.–Venezuela geopolitical tensions, M365 Copilot image generation tool.



1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

On 3 January, the United States launched a major military operation against Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. This event marked the most direct U.S. military intervention in Latin America in decades and represents a fundamental rupture in the norms governing state sovereignty and the use of force. Experts convened by the Global South Perspectives Network assessed this event not as an isolated crisis but as a critical inflection point in global order, one with ramifications far beyond Venezuela. Their discussion made three core claims:

 

  1. The attack signals a deep break-down of international norms, where force can be deployed unilaterally under broad pretences.

  2. It accelerates a global shift toward systemic violence, undermining institutions designed to contain conflict and protect sovereign equality.

  3. For the Global South, traditional responses based on deference or hedging are no longer sufficient; instead, collective strategies of agency, resilience and institutional renewal must be pursued.

 

This brief synthesises this expert conversation and explores the Venezuela operation’s effects on the international system’s current crisis, the pathways for Global South responses, and the broader consequences for the future of multilateralism and global governance.

 

 

2 THE ATTACK ON VENEZUELA: A

NEW PRECEDENT IN THE USE OF

AMERICAN FORCE

 

The U.S.’ operation in Venezuela, widely documented as involving air strikes on strategic installations in and around Caracas and the exfiltration of President Maduro, represents an unprecedented direct assault on another sovereign state’s leadership by U.S. forces in recent history.

 

What distinguishes this from previous military interventions is not just its scale but its apparent disregard for multilateral legal constraints. According to expert commentary, the operation violates core principles of the U.N. Charter, which prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.

 

Consultation participants underscored that this attack, framed by U.S. authorities as a counter-narco-terrorism and stabilisation operation, is emblematic of a broader pattern in which coercion is normalised, and legal norms are treated as optional rather than foundational.

 


3 VIOLENCE AS A SYSTEMIC

PHENOMENON, NOT AN ANOMALY

 

A central theme of the expert discussion was that contemporary global violence is no longer episodic, confined to specific wars or crises. Instead, it has become systemic, embedded in institutional behaviours, strategic logics, and narratives that reward escalation. Speakers drew historical parallels to early twentieth-century upheavals, when incremental violations of norms eventually culminated in widespread conflict. They argued that the Venezuela attack, like past military precedents, risks opening new floodgates rather than resolving discrete problems.

 

This systemic view of violence was reinforced by a public health analogy: unchecked violence spreads much like an epidemic through exposure, imitation and reinforcement. Without continuous mechanisms of interruption, the patterns of force used in one context are readily replicated elsewhere. In this framing, the international system lacks effective institutional capacity to contain contagion once precedent for the use of force is established.

 

 

4 EROSION OF EMPATHY AND THE

LEGITIMACY CRISIS OF MULTILATERAL

INSTITUTIONS

 

Consultation participants highlighted that the attack on Venezuela exposes a profound empathy deficit in global political discourse. Suffering, displacement and disruption caused by military action are now so frequently broadcast that they risk becoming background noise, tolerated consequences rather than urgent moral challenges. Institutions designed to mediate interstate conflict, above all the United Nations, were described as increasingly unable to enforce their own norms or to offer meaningful political mediation. This is not merely institutional failure; it is a crisis of legitimacy. When the greatest military powers disregard the system they helped to build, the normative foundation of multilateralism is hollowed out.

 

This erosion was illustrated starkly by the swift reactions of world leaders and civil society: some came out to condemn the U.S. action as a violation of international law and a threat to sovereignty, while others celebrated it as bold leadership. This polarisation further undermines the possibility of unified, normative responses that reinforce peaceful conflict resolution. It challenges the very edifice of global order.

 

 

5 GLOBAL SOUTH PERSPECTIVES:

CONSTRAINTS AND STRATEGIC

AGENCY

 

For states in the Global South, the Venezuela crisis presented several pressing questions about agency, sovereignty and strategic alignment. Historically, many of these states have balanced relations with major powers to secure trade, investment and development partnerships. The Venezuela episode suggests that reliance on normative deference, or on the continuation of established diplomatic frameworks, may no longer be sufficient. Various speakers emphasised that while formal sovereignty remains a principle of international relations, practical sovereignty is increasingly compromised by the unilateral actions of powerful states. In effect, the traditional security guarantees and legal frameworks that once offered a measure of insulation against external intervention are no longer reliable.

 

This reality prompts a reassessment of strategic options. The experts identified three broad response pathways for the Global South:

 

 

5.1 COLLECTIVE DE-RISKING AND STRATEGIC

DECOUPLING

 

Rather than isolated hedging or alignment with existing power blocs, Global South countries could explore collective strategies of de-risking. This would reduce dependence on external patronage that can be leveraged coercively. This could involve expanding trade among each other in the Global South, diversifying diplomatic partnerships, and strengthening regional security architectures. Collective de-risking would not be isolationist, but rather a coordinated effort to build resilience that reduces vulnerability to unilateral coercion.

 

 

5.2 INSTITUTIONAL RENEWAL AND NORM

REINFORCEMENT

 

Various speakers stressed the need for reinvigorating multilateral institutions with broader legitimacy and balanced authority. This includes reforming U.N. mechanisms to ensure that no single power can override established norms with impunity. Reformed and new platforms where Global South voices are not marginalised are now more needed than ever.

 

Institutional renewal also means developing mechanisms capable of sustained engagement, rather than episodic crisis management, to interrupt cycles of violence effectively.

 

 

5.3 SHARED NARRATIVE AND MORAL RECLAMATION

 

The attack on Venezuela and the inaction from the global community crystallises a broader cultural crisis: a weakening of collective commitment to humanitarian norms and shared global responsibility. Global South actors can play a leading role in articulating and popularising alternative narratives that resist the normalisation of coercive violence and emphasise cooperation over dominance.

 

 

6 REGIONAL AND GLOBAL RIPPLE

EFFECTS

 

Various participants suggested that the Venezuela episode will have far-reaching effects on regional stability and global geopolitics. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the fear of contagion, whether political, economic, or military, has already driven shifts in diplomacy, migration pressures and security postures. The crisis has the potential to deepen emigration flows, strain host-state resources and heighten regional militarisation.

 

Beyond the Western Hemisphere, the attack reinforces concerns about great powers using force various spurious pretexts, including counterterrorism or transnational crime. If unchallenged, the precedent set in Venezuela will likely lower thresholds for intervention elsewhere, eroding the protective value of sovereignty as a principle.

 

 

7 CONCLUSION - A CALL FOR

DELIBERATE INTERRUPTION

 

The experts in the Global South Perspectives Network concluded that the attack on Venezuela is more than a geopolitical flashpoint; it is a wake-up call. The international order is currently oscillating between inertia and escalation, and the path it follows will depend on whether political actors choose to invest in deliberate mechanisms of interruption and renewal or allow systemic violence to self-perpetuate.

 

The Global South finds itself at a crossroads: continue to navigate within the existing architecture, or contribute to shaping a more resilient, equitable and normatively grounded framework for global governance.

 

 

 

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This report has been published by the Inclusive Society Institute on behalf of the Global South Perspectives Network


Global South Perspectives Network (GSPN) is an international coalition founded in 2022 by HumanizaCom, the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS), and the Inclusive Society Institute (ISI). It brings together think tanks and experts from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East to amplify Global South voices in global governance debates.

 

GSPN works to strengthen Southern representation in decision-making, focusing on United Nations reform and multilateralism. Through research, dialogue, and advocacy, it promotes equitable partnerships between the Global South and North.

 

Key initiatives include the 2023 report Global South Perspectives on Global Governance Reform, presented at a UN workshop in New York, and events such as the 2024 UN Civil Society workshop in Nairobi.

 

GSPN’s mission is to ensure Global South nations are equal partners in shaping global policy, fostering a fair, inclusive, and sustainable international order.


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