They say death and taxes are the only certainties in life. For me – and a growing number of others – a third now definitely applies: I will never be allowed into the US, which has made it clear that those who write critically about it, including on social media and other digital platforms, should not expect a visitor’s visa.

That reality alone makes uncritical commentary on the country – which styles itself as the world’s foremost defender of free expression – increasingly untenable. But it is Washington’s conduct, rather than its visa policies, that makes neutrality all but impossible. Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, American power has been exercised without any subtlety or restraint, but with a deliberate edge. The seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on January 3 stands as the clearest expression yet of this approach – an act framed by the US government as decisive leadership but viewed by many across the globe as brazen disregard of international law.

The pair is now in US custody, and has appeared in a New York federal court, facing charges linked to accusations describing Maduro as heading a corrupt, illegitimate government propped up by an extensive drug trafficking operation that has flooded the US with tonnes of cocaine.

Charged with them are their son and three other individuals.

Let me be clear: I’m no Maduro fan. There is evidence galore that he should not have been in charge for as long as he was – all of 13 years. No less a body than the UN Panel of Electoral Experts concluded that his disputed re-election in 2024 did not meet international standards for transparency and integrity, while human rights watchdogs reported killings, disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture and ill-treatment of those participating in post-election protests.

Historical polling has also shown that most Venezuelans viewed the political system under Maduro as undemocratic or effectively dictatorial. For example, a 2017 poll found that up to 79% of respondents believed that they lived under some form of dictatorship and most opposed controversial constitutional changes pushed by his government. Even before the country’s economic collapse accelerated in the 2010s, public sentiment was heavily skewed against Maduro’s consolidation of power.

Such a profile sounds very familiar in Africa, including in countries such as Uganda, where a “new” leader will have been elected by the time you read this article. I bet my bottom rand that the winner will be Yoweri Museveni, who has been President since overthrowing a dictatorship back in 1986 and has since amended the country’s Constitution twice – to remove age and term limits – enabling him to remain in State House indefinitely. While the East African country continues to hold elections regularly, the fairness and competitiveness of these polls are frequently questioned by observers and opposition figures alike.

Only about a week before the January 15 election, contestant Bobi Wine, a musician-turned-politician who first stood against Museveni in 2021, complained that “we are hounded by security and followed by over 40 police and military cars . . . everywhere I go to campaign, the day before, the military comes, beats up people, intimidates them, warns them against attending the rallies I address”.

If Trump had a mind to it and decided to seize Museveni or any of the other electoral fraudsters across our continent in the same manner he seized Maduro – under the pretext that he was flooding the US with drugs – would I support such a move? The answer is an emphatic no. Such matters must be handled internally, without foreign involvement. For all we know, the drugs charges against Maduro & Co may be trumped up, with the real reason for the Maduros’ seizure being access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, the largest in the world.

Although US officials have publicly emphasised the law-enforcement rationale, restoring Western access to, and influence over, Venezuela’s energy sector is widely suggested as a core motive.

I notice that the African Union has expressed “grave concern” over the incident, reaffirming its support for international law, and that President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned it, calling for the captives’ immediate release and urgent action from the UN Security Council. Other African countries – including Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Comoros, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Namibia – have added their voices to the howl of protest.

My issue is the timing of their speaking up. Why did they not raise their voices when Maduro was riding roughshod over Venezuelans? And why don’t they call out Museveni and his ilk now?