It seems reasonable — both as a continuation of my previous note and as a logical link to my post on drug legalization — to share my opinion on the special military operation to capture Maduro.
I’ll start with the main postulate I adhere to: any state is an apparatus of violence over individuals. The second postulate: this definition is not dichotomous — there are worse states and better states. From here, I’ll consider both an idealistic and a practical perspective.
So, the US is one of the best states on the planet; Venezuela under the criminal regimes of Maduro and Chavez is one of the worst. The formal reason the US used to capture Maduro was crimes related to drug trafficking. As a libertarian, I obviously cannot condemn Maduro as the head of a cartel. But as a libertarian, I do condemn Maduro as a dictator who doesn’t ask the population what it wants; who acts like a magnifying glass, making any state fire burn even brighter.
While most people claim that state sovereignty should be inviolable, I believe the only way for a “good” state to remain good is to deny bandits the right to violence against anyone. Right now, the right of most bandits is recognized as legitimate. That’s why not paying taxes to the Russian regime is a crime that can get you extradited to Russia. In MOST cases, states recognize each other’s right to violence — which is why imprisoning and killing Navalny leads only to “concern.” Thank you for your concern, guys who bought oil from Putin for hundreds of billions and sold him dual-use components through your husbands.
If the operation to capture Maduro did not cost civilian lives in Venezuela, I consider it justified. A president should be the last person protected by state sovereignty. Protecting foreign civilians from their own missiles is reasonable: they may have no choice; a president always does.
What should Americans do next to save face in my eyes? Hold an honest referendum asking people one question:
- Is Maduro your president?
If people say “yes” — return Maduro safe and sound; keep the sanctions.
If people say “no” — deal with Maduro as a criminal under US law. Lift sanctions on Venezuela and help build democracy.
That’s the idealistic view.
From a practical standpoint, things are bleaker:
1. Unfortunately, the US has already said: we caught him as a criminal. The people of Venezuela won’t be asked whether Maduro was a criminal.
2. An armed capture of a country’s leader is a dangerous precedent for world order. Though this is debatable: no one knows whether you can capture presidents only if you control a quarter of the global economy — or only if you can do it in three hours with minimal bloodshed.
3. Most likely, no one will care about the people of Venezuela, as usual. Though it’s hard to imagine things being worse for them than under an incompetent dictator.
I remember that back in 2013, when Chavez died, I imagined a cauldron in hell with Chavez and Stalin — and a spot prepared for yet another dictator. I hope that this year we’ll finally say:
07.10.1952 – 05.03.2026