A unique feature of the Maduro toppling—which may end up being more a decapitation of his regime than a full-scale regime change—is that he was essentially taken rendition-style from Caracas, according to Alexander Downes, director of the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at George Washington University.
“Foreign leaders do get indicted in the U.S. That’s fine,” Downes said in an email. See Trump’s recent pardon of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was actually convicted of trafficking drugs into the U.S.
“Kidnapping (rival world leaders) while in office, however, strikes me as a bad idea if not illegal,” said Downes, author of the book “Catastrophic Success: Why Foreign-Imposed Regime Change Goes Wrong.”
Downes added that the move may create a new precedent for other countries. How will the U.S. react if China or Russia now simply kidnaps a rival leader? […]
“What looks like an immediate success can turn into a long term failure,” Downes said, pointing to Iran as Exhibit A. “Washington has been dealing with the fallout, including the Iran hostage crisis, Iran’s bid for nuclear weapons, and its hostility to Israel for almost 50 years.”
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