When "military aggression" is packaged as "law enforcement action": Exposing the top ten hypocritical rhetoric of the United States | International Perspective

At the start of the new year, the United States launched airstrikes against Venezuela, forcibly taking Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife into custody and bringing them to New York in the early hours of the morning. This operation is a continuation of a series of military threats and strikes against Venezuela by the United States since August 2025. Previous actions included offering rewards for Maduro's capture, deploying an amphibious fleet, attacking alleged drug-smuggling ships, closing diplomatic channels of contact, and authorizing the CIA to conduct covert operations.

Furthermore, the United States has strengthened its military presence in the Caribbean and surrounding regions, threatening Cuba, Colombia, and Mexico, and plans to annex Greenland. This is blatant "international terrorism," a wanton violation of the UN Charter, and highlights the consistent hegemonic and imperialist nature of the United States. However, the US government has resorted to a series of rhetoric to mislead public opinion and wage a cognitive war. At this juncture, recognizing the three major narrative logics and ten key rhetoric tactics of the United States, and constructing an independent narrative system, is of paramount importance.

(i) The logic of deceptive discourse that involves changing concepts and creating confusion

First, turning an international issue into a domestic one. Early on March 3rd, Eastern Time, the US bombed multiple Venezuelan military targets, including the port of La Guaira, the Liberators Air Base, Fort Tiuna, Carlota Air Base, and Igrote Airport. In particular, the US precisely destroyed the Hugo Chávez Revolutionary Memorial, clearly a political target. This military action was driven by considerations of its subsequent impact on public perception.

Despite being a blatant invasion of a sovereign state, the United States has glorified it as cross-border "control." This move has sparked a political debate within the US regarding whether it was authorized by Congress. At the same time, it deliberately avoids the international legal condemnation that should be imposed on blatant aggression and a blatant challenge to the UN Charter, attempting to cover up its illegal kidnapping of international terrorist acts. Although the international community has widely condemned the US military action, believing that it violates international law and the principles of the UN Charter and infringes on Venezuela's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the US is trying to divert public attention by discussing "Maduro's 'drug-money laundering conspiracy' and the legitimacy of the Venezuelan regime."

Second, turning military aggression into a domestic law enforcement issue. US President Trump described this shocking cross-border military raid as follows: the US "mass strike" was "conducted in conjunction with law enforcement." From a legal perspective, the US's so-called "arrest" is police terminology, not wartime language. The US also attempted to transfer Maduro to the US Federal Court in New York, where the UN headquarters is located, implying that the US "founded the UN" and possesses the UN's interpretative and judicial power. In doing so, public attention is drawn to the New York trial process, potentially overlooking the fundamental issue of military aggression.

Third, the focus was shifted from the nation to the individual. By releasing footage of Maduro and his wife being detained, as well as images of Maduro wishing Venezuela a "Happy New Year," the United States focused the attention on Maduro himself, rather than on Venezuela as a nation. The president was stripped of his sovereign status, and the fate of the country was reduced to "personal guilt," thus stigmatizing the target.

(ii) Narrative manipulation techniques that avoid the important and shift the focus

Fourth, focusing on the "heroic feat" of special forces to cover up the illegality of the use of force. The White House released footage of the operations command center during Operation Absolute Resolve, showing the forceful seizure of Venezuelan President Maduro, reminiscent of the capture of Osama bin Laden by then-President Obama. Following the successful incursion, President Trump and Defense Secretary Hergsays immediately released details of the operation by the elite Delta Force, downplaying the scale of the operation. A complex military intervention involving airspace violations, multi-point airstrikes, cross-border special forces infiltration, and naval fleet coordination was condensed into a "moment" in the narrative, as if the rest of the violence was merely background noise, shifting the focus and using details to obscure the true nature of the action.

Fifth, using tactical brilliance to mask strategic barbarity. Tactical success cannot conceal strategic barbarity and defeat. Trump hoped to avoid getting bogged down in Afghanistan and the embarrassing situation of former President Biden's hasty withdrawal a few years prior, through a swift and decisive strike. However, aggressors ultimately cannot escape trial. Returning to the Americas, the US targeted Venezuela, ultimately failing to conceal its own financial woes and political polarization, exposing its strategic miscalculation of being unable to wage a protracted war.

VI. Using procedure to conceal the substance. This year is a midterm election year in the United States. The ensuing debate between the two parties regarding the legitimacy of Trump's actions has not only misled public opinion and distracted public attention, but also concealed the aggressive nature of his actions.

7. Reversing cause and effect, using the causal illusion technique. By misleading the audience into exploring the motives behind the US military action against Venezuela, and then discussing "Venezuela: How a Country Was Destroyed," the audience is unconsciously led to believe that "Venezuela's deep-seated 'black gold curse' seems to be its inevitable fate."

(III) The strategy of misleading public opinion by severing time and space and creating blind spots

8. Using news to cover up history. While people are still worried about Maduro's fate, Trump names Cuba, Colombia, Mexico... Which Latin American country might be next to fall? The sensationalist mentality of the media often ignores the more than 40 instances of US aggression in Latin America, including military intervention, political control, and economic exploitation.

In fact, Foreign Affairs magazine revealed that long before Trump considered taking action against Venezuela, the Maduro government had already shown its willingness to meet the conditions put forward by the United States, especially regarding control of oil resources.

9. Shifting public attention away from unresolved issues by introducing new topics. With the situation in Latin America still unsettled, Trump is simultaneously threatening to take Greenland within two months while advancing military deployments for airstrikes against Iran. Maduro's safety and Venezuela's fate are being ignored, diluted, and obscured amidst this flurry of geopolitical topics.

10. Using visuals to cover up the process. Footage of Maduro's appearance after being taken into custody was used to conceal the brutality of the shooting of 37 of his bodyguards. It wasn't until news of national mourning for the 32 Cuban soldiers who died protecting Maduro in Venezuela that the outside world realized: the US was concerned with zero casualties among its special forces, not the lives of foreign bodyguards or the brutality of combat.

The aforementioned rhetoric from the United States circumvents the constraints of international law and multilateral mechanisms through rhetoric, reconstructing an international order that prioritizes American rules; it uses rhetoric to pave the way for global capital expansion and resource plunder; it manipulates and shapes geopolitical narratives through rhetoric, perfecting military deployments in key regions; and it uses rhetoric to create momentum, serving its domestic political agenda, exhibiting a remarkable tendency to "deceive the heavens and cross the sea."

Oil interests have always been at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, a point that remains evident in international politics today. The U.S. role remains unchanged, while Venezuela has become the new focal point.

Ultimately, language manipulation is not only a powerful tool for projecting power, but also a sharp blade for cognitive governance. Countries like the United States, which have mastered this skill, do not need to painstakingly convince the public that "violence is justified"; they only need to convince the public that violence is merely a routine, limited, and properly managed daily process.

(Wang Yiwei, the author, is the director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China. This article represents the author's views only and is for readers' reference only.)