Why United States' invasion of Venezuela should terrify Africa

Protesters demonstrate in support of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro at the Cinelandia square in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 5, 2026. [AFP]

From Nairobi, the United States’ invasion of Venezuela does not feel unprecedented. What is alarming is not the use of force itself, but the abandonment of restraint, the open dismissal of law, legitimacy, and multilateral consent as necessary justifications for power.

That shift should unsettle Africa profoundly, where the promise of the rule of law has been repeatedly crushed by raw force, often with the quiet approval of external powers.