Former Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti and Professor of International Relations, Kayode Soremekun, and the Director of Studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Prof. Efem Ubi, have condemned the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their heavily guarded location in Caracas to face the American court system.
Maduro and his wife were immediately slammed yesterday with drug and weapon charges in New York, after being captured.
Reacting about the arrest in an interview with The Nation, Professor Soremekun said Maduro’s capture was a sign of the end times.
“It speaks to what can be called the current near unipolarity of the international system.
“This is because such a situation would not have been possible during the Cold War. But I’ve just read the announcement from the Venezuelan authorities, and they went into history to say that they’ve always had to contend with this big neighbour, i.e. Washington. And that is, according to them, the latest in the offensives of Washington in what can be called its backyard.
“It is also a reenactment of what can be called the Monroe Doctrine, whereby the U.S. simply sees its neighbours as puppets, as non-entities to be toyed with at will, which is a non-liberal order. Having said that, you also have to appreciate that in recent times, Venezuela has always been disposed towards Cuba, an arch-enemy of Washington. So, this is only to be expected under a post-Cold War warrior like Donald Trump.
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“As it is, since in relative terms, there are no dynamics to this kind of offensive from Washington, because in an earlier era, the former Soviet Union would have been saying some things about what has just happened.
“And what it also means is that the only competing power to the United States at the moment, i.e. China, will now be free in relative terms to also annex Taiwan. So, you can see a game of hegemonies on the part of Washington on one hand, and Beijing, that is China, in the potential sense.”
The don argued that what saw with Maduro’s experience also was a relative recession and near-death of multilateral diplomacy, “because in the light of this unilateral offensive from Washington, one begins to ask, where are the United Nations? Where is the NAM, i.e. the Non-Aligned Movement? Where is the OAS, the Organisation of American States?” He submitted that what it means is that, for now at least, multilateral diplomacy is in recession.
“Gunboat diplomacy is now the order of the day, and the chief warrior, for better or worse, is Mr. Donald Trump. But this also has consequences, because in diplomacy, what you seek to do is to multiply your friends.
“This will not go down very well with a lot of countries in Latin America, because they know that if this can happen to Caracas, they can always ask, who is next?” Prof. Soremekun warned.
For Prof. Ubi, what the world witnessed yesterday was an aggression on the state of Venezuela for U.S. to invade and capture its president.
“That is the undermining of the sovereignty of Venezuela and its territorial integrity. In fact, it has also shown that we need a reform of the United Nations. We actually need a new organisation that will be able to maintain order.
“A country cannot just wake up and now invade another country, capture the president, and take the president to their own country. We cannot continue to live in a world where a single power is depicted, irrespective of the circumstances and irrespective of the international law that is in place.
“They don’t care. All they think about is their interests. If it means crushing heads, even if it means undermining states and their territorial integrity. This is uncalled for.”
Prof. Ubi argued that in the 21st century, the world should begin to think differently.
According to him, the world is reacting that what the United States did was totally wrong.
He added: “I think my take is that we should begin to look for an alternative world order where there can be justice, there can be equity, there can be respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and not for just one power to rise up and determine what should be in the international order. And so, multipolarity still stands out in our thinking of a new world order. Multilateralism also stands in terms of our engagement with the international community.
“Let the people of Venezuela be the ones to change the regime, and not for you to come tease the President by taking him to the United States. This is uncalled for.”
