In a striking commentary, journalist Terry Glavin challenges the notion that international law should offer protection to the authoritarian regimes of Venezuela and Iran. He argues that viewing the dramatic events in Caracas and Tehran as separate crises is a fundamental misunderstanding of a unified geopolitical struggle.
A Coordinated Challenge to Democratic Norms
Glavin contends that the concurrent turmoil in Venezuela's Bolivarian Republic and Iran's Islamic Republic is not a coincidence fighting for newspaper space. Instead, these events are interconnected parts of the same narrative. Misreading this link, he warns, leads to a flawed interpretation of recent actions by the United States.
The analysis suggests observers might wrongly interpret U.S. President Donald Trump's "theatrically brilliant" extraction of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro over a weekend in early January 2026. Similarly, one could mistakenly believe Trump's "locked and loaded" rhetoric from Friday, January 2, 2026, signals a genuine intent to militarily defend Iranian protesters against the state.
The Realpolitik Behind U.S. Actions on Venezuela
Glavin asserts that Trump's primary goal is not regime change or democracy restoration in Venezuela. Evidence includes the sidelining of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whom Trump dismissed as a "nice lady" lacking respect, despite a ClearPath Strategies poll showing 72% of Venezuelans admire her. Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize Trump coveted in 2025, also saw her recognition downplayed.
Furthermore, in a Saturday national address following Maduro's extraction, Trump failed to mention Edmundo González Urrutia, the legitimate president who won the 2024 election in a landslide. González was forced into hiding at the Dutch embassy and eventually fled the country after Maduro refused to cede power. Breaking with Canada, the European Parliament, and several Latin American democracies, the U.S. plans to recognize Maduro's vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez, instead.
According to Glavin, the alignment between Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicates the Bolivarian regime will likely remain for the foreseeable future.
The Deep-Rooted Caracas-Tehran Axis
The connection between Iran and Venezuela is profound and long-standing. The alliance began with Hugo Chávez, the former lieutenant-colonel elected president in 1999 after a prison stint for a failed coup. Chávez, a self-styled populist socialist, cultivated early ties with Tehran.
This relationship was formalized in a 2007 "anti-imperialist alliance", leading to hundreds of joint diplomatic, economic, military, and intelligence agreements. The partnership has had tangible, alarming consequences:
- Hezbollah, Iran's Lebanese proxy, is believed to have conducted commando training on Venezuela's Margarita Island for Latin American recruits.
- Venezuelan passports are routinely provided to members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
- U.S. Department of Defense reports note the IRGC's elite Quds Force conducting training exercises with the Venezuelan Armed Forces.
- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency lists roughly 200 "narcotics kingpins" linked to Hezbollah, which uses Venezuela as a Western Hemisphere base for money laundering and multi-tonne cocaine shipments to Europe.
- Venezuela's Banco International de Desarollo is wholly owned by Iran's Saderat Bank.
Glavin concludes that these two regimes, bound by ideology and illicit enterprise, share a common reliance on China as a primary buyer for their oil, further entrenching their positions. He posits that framing international law as a shield for such dictatorships is not only foolish but ignores the complex, intertwined reality of their rule and the threats they pose collectively.
