International coercion and the transformation of the global legal-political order: the Venezuela–United States case as a structural precedent
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18319497Keywords:
International coercion, State sovereignty, multilateralism, human rights, economic sanctionsAbstract
This article critically examines the Venezuela–United States case as a structural precedent of international coercion, assessing its implications for the contemporary global legal-political order. From a public international law perspective, it evaluates the compatibility of unilateral coercive measures, particularly economic sanctions, with the principles of State sovereignty, non-intervention, multilateralism, and human rights protection. The research adopts a qualitative approach with an analytical-descriptive and critical design, grounded in contemporary legal-dogmatic methodology. A critical case study is applied through the systematic analysis of international legal norms, United Nations resolutions, international jurisprudence, recent State practice, and updated scholarly doctrine (2024–2025). The findings reveal the normalization of unilateral economic coercion as a regular instrument of foreign policy, alongside a progressive weakening of multilateralism and the collective security system. The study also identifies structural impacts on the effective enjoyment of human rights, especially economic, social, and cultural rights, due to the extraterritorial effects of sanctions. It concludes that this case represents a replica ble precedent, reflecting a transformation of State sovereignty and promoting normative exceptionalism in contemporary international law, highlighting the need to strengthen multilateral mechanisms and redefine legal limits.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Reynaldo Roldán-Peña (Author)
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