Peace in peril
Written by Newsday on March 5, 2025
AS AT MARCH 4, the US halted shipments of ammunition, vehicles and equipment to Russia-besieged Ukraine – the crystallisation of Donald Trump’s stunning repudiation of the comity of nations.
This American policy reversal is not the mere use of unorthodoxy to achieve the end of conflict; it is the direct and deliberate application of a wrecking ball to the peace and prosperity of the world. The very existence of nations is at stake, the lives of millions at risk. Mr Trump’s tariff wars and his curtailment of US aid complete the process.
The Caribbean’s vulnerability in all this is underscored by the recent actions of Nicolás Maduro.
It is no coincidence the Venezuelan leader has flared up days after the US crudely jettisoned the notion of a security guarantee for the Ukrainian people through the roughhouse treatment of Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28.
On March 1, Venezuela sent an armed patrol ship into Guyanese waters and threatened a US oil company facility. In the process, the Argyle Declaration has been left in tatters, the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice once more repudiated and the idea of Guyana’s territorial sovereignty laid waste to.
Mr Trump, in the most disgraceful diplomatic encounter ever televised from the Oval Office, treated Ukraine’s leader, who has bravely fought three years of murderous assault from Moscow, with contempt. “Yes, sir, thank you sir” was all he wanted to hear from Mr Zelenskyy as he sought to impose a minerals deal that would subject Ukraine to vassalage. Not receiving this, he swiftly threw him out of the White House. The “suspension” of military help followed.
Mr Maduro is thus emboldened.
If Vladimir Putin can invade a sovereign state without consequences, so can he. The US’s recent revoking of Joe Biden’s energy licences – which has momentarily scuppered this country’s Dragon gas deal – gives Venezuela further incentive to lay claim to Essequibo oil.
Outwardly, Mr Trump would seem to be acting against Mr Maduro and his undemocratic regime. Marco Rubio’s visa sanctions for anyone associated with Cuba’s programme of doctors and nurses working abroad further allow the Trump regime to burnish its “toughness.”
However, closer scrutiny reveals the Republican leader is strengthening Mr Maduro’s hand through his treatment of Ukraine and his isolation of America.
There is no guarantee the US will come to Guyana’s aid. With resources stretched because of the need to defend its neighbour, there is also no guarantee the EU can help. And looking on, too, are the people of Taiwan and Xi Jinping in China.
Astonishingly, Mr Trump claimed Mr Zelenskyy was gambling with a third world war.
But it is the US president who has brought us to the brink.
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