The blatant and brazen way in which the Donald Trump administration kidnapped the legitimate president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, on Saturday leaves no room for doubt: the rules-based international order established after World War II no longer exists.

Only the so-called democrats, who have little say left on the global geopolitical stage, and certain lesser-evil progressives who still believe they'll never face a firing squad when they become an obstacle to the same old oligarchs, refuse to acknowledge this reality.

The misdeeds of this 21st-century Agent Orange are not the product of madness; they are the stark expression of an ultraright-wing, misogynistic, and racist political class that hasn't hesitated to erase the UN Charter with a stroke of the pen —a Charter, it's important to remember, that was the product of a balance of superpowers that no longer exists.

It will fall to the international community to stop this man by moving from rhetoric to action, because those in the White House have long since made no secret of their determination to reshape the map of international relations, aware that only through military force can they impose their will in this increasingly multipolar and ungovernable world.

Take note, those who thought this was about the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism. Look closely, you naive souls who thought this magnate-president could be stopped with half measures.

Let us not forget the anti-communists who want to believe that a fascist will be their savior and who, at this moment, celebrate piracy and banditry "Made in the USA", demanding the same for Cuba. Their visceral hatred is being laid bare; against them, let us put forward the clear-headed unity of the nation: dignified, free, just, and socialist.

Now, the same media outlets that speak of “extradition” or “capture” to refer to this crude kidnapping of a president will try to convince us that yesterday, military installations of the so-called Cartel of the Suns were attacked, just as they told us that the 200,000 children bombed in Gaza were terrorists. Yes, because this is a cultural battle and a battle of narratives in the headlines of television news programs and the walls of digital social media. The right wing understands this very well; we must keep it in mind as well.

The image of Nicolás Maduro in handcuffs is not justice; it is war propaganda, and we will see much more of that in the future. Trump himself said it without hesitation: with private oil companies escorted by his army, he wants to plunder the resources of the homeland of Bolívar and Chávez. It's the Monroe Doctrine, version 2.0. What they're announcing isn't freedom. It's domination, and it's best to call it what it is.