The global political year 2026 began on January 3, 2026, with a clear violation of international law. With its military strikes against Venezuela, the second Trump administration has taken its imperialist Latin America policy to a new level of intensity – both in terms of the means employed and its public justification.
In the new TraCe Policy Brief, authors Anika Oettler, Stefan Peters, and Jonas Wolff examine the recent US military operation in Venezuela and the broader panorama of Trump's Latin America policy as part of the current transformation of political violence, in which the ambitions of imperial domination, the war on drugs, and regime change intersect.
The Policy Brief is available for download (PDF, in German only).
Anika Oettler is Professor of Social Development and Comparative Social Structure Analysis at Marburg University and Principal Investigator (PI) at TraCe. She has conducted extensive research and published widely on the history of political violence in Central America and Colombia.
Stefan Peters is Professor of International Relations and Peace Studies at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Scientific Director of the Instituto Colombo-Alemán para la Paz (CAPAZ) and also a TraCe PI. His work focuses in particular on Venezuelan pension society and the Colombian peace process.
Jonas Wolff is Professor of Political Science with a focus on Latin America at Goethe University Frankfurt, Program Director at PRIF – Leibniz Institute for Peace and Conflict Research, and Co-Spokesperson for TraCe. His research focuses on political transformation processes, social conflicts, and political violence.