US Intervention in Venezuela Impacts the Middle East

posted on: Jan 7, 2026

By: Ghassan Rubeiz / Arab America Contributing Writer

How long can President Trump play the world’s peacemaker while ignoring the basic rules of the game? On Sunday’s CNN GPS, Fareed Zakaria astutely observed that the US hegemonic attack on Venezuela evokes 19th-century imperialism. On the same program, analyst Richard Haass warned that should Trump succeed in reshaping Venezuela’s political and economic system to suit his interests, he would be violating the international system of rule of law and diplomacy. For one thing, the assault on Venezuela could drive China to seize Taiwan and Russia to fully conquer Ukraine.

The question of special interest to this writer is: how will this disruptive development in Latin America impact Middle Eastern geopolitics? If the situation deteriorates into a disastrous quagmire—reminiscent of US interventions in Iraq or Afghanistan—the entire Middle East would inevitably be affected.

The warning signs are already visible: the Maduro regime remains virtually intact; the party that won the last election is being ignored by the Trump administration; Washington claims significant entitlement to Venezuela’s oil; and the US declares its intention to run the country—a formula that foretells hard-to-reach outcomes. The methodology is unclear and improvised. Trump renews his threats to five other nations: Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Iran, and Denmark’s Greenland. He is ready to deploy US troops to achieve unrealistic plans. Running Venezuela reminds us of “turning Gaza into a Riviera.”

Consider how this new Trump misadventure will affect three outstanding conflicts in the Middle East: Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon.

Gaza is expected to see progress as phase two of the ceasefire starts. Yet Washington won’t be able to pay serious attention to the devastated Palestinian strip when simultaneously facing unresolvable crises in Ukraine and Venezuela. The US will find it very hard to recruit reliable partners to supervise Gaza’s recovery when its forces are undermining another nation’s security in Latin America. Similarly, few countries will risk sending troops to ensure peace in Gaza while watching military intervention unfold against a sovereign state.

Iran presents another concern. Israel now feels emboldened to attack Iran since Washington is preoccupied with Latin America and Ukraine. If Washington threatens to invade Venezuela to extract oil it claims to own, it will not be able to restrain Israel from expanding its annexation of the West Bank, which Tel Aviv also claims to own—calling it Judea and Samaria.

Lebanon faces similar risks. Washington is unlikely to stop Israel from attacking Lebanon—purportedly to finish with Hezbollah—when the US is unfolding its own imperial project against a sovereign country like Venezuela.

Arab leaders will notice that Trump’s most passionate congressional supporters of aggressive intervention in Venezuela are the very same advocates for Israel’s policies in Palestine. The Arab Gulf States, expected to fund Gaza’s recovery and expand the Abraham Accords, are losing faith in both the US and Israel as they witness the parallels of injustice in the two regions.

Trump may not find it as easy to dominate Latin America as he has the Middle East. By embroiling himself in three regional conflicts where he plays peacemaker while siding with the predator, Trump runs the risk of paying a high price. The Middle East, already fragile, will bear much of this burden. In Venezuela, Trump could run out of luck and unravel.

Ghassan Rubeiz is the former Middle East Secretary of the World Council of Churches. Earlier, he taught psychology and social work in his country of birth, Lebanon, and later in the United States, where he currently lives. He has contributed to political commentary for the past twenty years and has delivered occasional public talks on peace, justice, and interfaith topics. You can reach him at rubeizg@gmail.com

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Arab America. The reproduction of this article is permissible with proper credit to Arab America and the author.

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