India, Jan. 9 -- In the first weeks of January 2026, the United States executed one of the most audacious extraterritorial operations of recent decades. In a surprise move in Caracas, U.S. forces detained Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores and transported them to New York to face federal criminal charges. The operation, carried out without the consent of the Venezuelan state or authorisation from the United Nations, was swiftly justified by Washington as a necessary step against alleged narco-terrorism networks and illicit trafficking.

Yet the shockwaves from this action have been felt far beyond Venezuela. By deploying military force inside a sovereign country to seize its sitting head of state, the United S...