U.S. Ouster of Maduro Exposes Limits to Brazil’s Regional Leadership

Overview

• The U.S. operation that removed Nicolás Maduro, described as the first direct ouster of a sitting South American president by Washington in recent memory, proceeded without consulting Brazil or seeking regional cooperation, according to analysts.
• Regional governments split over the move, with Brazil, Colombia and Mexico condemning it while Argentina, Ecuador and Paraguay reacted positively.
• Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transferred to the United States to face criminal charges, and Delcy Rodríguez assumed an interim leadership role in Caracas.
• Brazil’s response is constrained by its constitutional commitment to non-intervention and by practical limits, including delayed air-defense and nuclear-propulsion submarine programs cited by military officials.
• Brasília is leaning on diplomacy and economic leverage, pressing its case in forums such as the OAS and UN Security Council and advancing trade agendas including Mercosur–EU ties.