Amorim warns that US invasion could generate conflict “like Vietnam”

A United States invasion of Venezuela could trigger a conflict “similar to Vietnam” in South America, warned the special advisor to the President, Celso Amorim, in an interview with The Guardian.

“If there was an invasion, a real invasion… I think, without a doubt, you would see something similar to Vietnam – on what scale it is impossible to say”, said Amorim in an interview with Tom Phillips this Monday (8).

Amorim refers to the historic defeat suffered by the United States in 1975, when the resistance led by North Vietnam overcame the North American military apparatus and ended the war in favor of communist forces.

For the former chancellor, the escalation promoted by Donald Trump — from the closure of airspace to attacks in the Caribbean — represents a concrete risk of turning the continent into a war zone.

“The last thing we want is for South America to become a war zone – and a war zone that would inevitably not just be a war between the US and Venezuela. It would end up having global involvement and that would be really regrettable,” he warned.

The crisis has worsened in recent months as Trump has intensified military and political pressure on Caracas.

Since August, Washington has doubled the reward for information leading to the capture of Nicolás Maduro, mobilized the largest naval operation in the Caribbean since the 1962 missile crisis and ordered a series of air attacks against vessels classified as “drug boats”, resulting in more than 80 deaths without any public proof of links to drug trafficking.

Added to the military offensive are decisions that have a direct impact on civil circulation, such as the complete closure of Venezuelan airspace decreed by Donald Trump at the end of November, a measure that Amorim described as “an act of war” for imposing a unilateral blockade on the neighboring country.

In an interview with The Guardian, the former chancellor also considered the initiative “totally illegal”.

In previous statements, Amorim had already warned that an “external intervention” in Venezuela “could set South America on fire” and provoke “immense resentment” on the continent, when commenting on the series of US bombings against Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

To AFP, he stated that the military escalation could lead to the “radicalization of politics across the continent” and generate “concrete refugee problems” in Brazil and Colombia, if Washington moves towards ground operations.

Amorim told the The Guardian that the region has a history of resistance to foreign military initiatives.

“I know South America… our entire continent exists because of resistance against foreign invaders,” said the diplomat, warning that an intervention ordered by Washington could rekindle the anti-American sentiment that marked the second half of the 20th century.

Despite acknowledging that there were “problems” in the 2024 Venezuelan election, Amorim reiterated that no dispute over results justifies armed actions or attempts at regime change imposed from outside.

“If every questionable election triggered an invasion, the world would be on fire,” he stated, highlighting that any decisions about Venezuela’s political future belong exclusively to its people and cannot be conditioned by the North American military strategy.