India, Jan. 4 -- There are moments in global politics when history does not knock politely. It kicks the door down. What unfolded between Washington and Caracas in 2026 appears to be one such moment. When US President Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that the United States had carried out a "large-scale strike" against Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, the world collectively gasped-not because the trajectory was unexpected, but because the destination had finally been reached.

This was not an overnight eruption. It was a carefully layered escalation, one policy decision stacked upon another, moving with grim predictability from economic pressure to open military confrontation. The seeds were sown early in the ...