It's perfectly acceptable to use sensational headlines to describe what happened in Venezuela; we are indeed facing a highly complex situation. US forces are carrying out an operation to arrest a head of state and forcibly transfer him to US soil for trial. The assumption here is that he will receive a fair trial… but how can this be imagined in this context?

The scene is completed with a press conference in which US President Donald Trump announces that the United States will take over the administration of Venezuela and control its oil sales. With his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” he addressed the Venezuelan people, saying, “We will make Venezuela great again.” The press conference was an occasion to boast and demonstrate American military superiority over any other power in the world.

As they say in Egyptian colloquial Arabic: “A clean operation, one hundred percent.”

But amidst this complex situation, it shouldn't be overlooked that the Trump administration is losing increasing public support, as reflected in the recent local elections in several states and cities. The midterm elections will be a true test of this decline, unless Trump manages to turn the tables on the Democrats.

As for the Venezuela operation, it's difficult to ignore it. It may backfire on Trump and his administration within the United States before it does abroad, an abroad whose reactions Washington does not seem to care much about.