BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military incursion into Venezuela and the action against its President, Nicolas Maduro, as announced by the U.S. administration, once again lays bare Washington's reliance on unilateral force to shape outcomes beyond its borders.

This aggression also hollows out decades of U.S. rhetoric positioning America as the guardian of international rules. By bypassing the United Nations Security Council, Washington has again acted in direct opposition to the tenets of international law.

Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, a foundational principle of international law, explicitly prohibits the use or threat of force against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. Therefore, the action against a sovereign nation's leader has shown the world, unequivocally, who stands as the true transgressor of international law.

History offers ample precedent. From Iraq and Libya to Panama and Grenada, the United States has repeatedly used or threatened force under dubious justifications, often leaving prolonged instability in its wake. Venezuela, long subjected to sanctions and political pressure, now joins that list, with diplomacy once again sidelined in favor of military coercion.

That this aggression unfolded in Latin America makes it especially damning. The region has endured a long history of U.S. intervention, and the logic behind it has never truly disappeared.

As CNN noted in an analysis, "Deep in the heart of this action lies Washington's wider ambitions for greater control of its near-abroad, for what they have termed an updated Monroe Doctrine."

The doctrine may no longer be openly proclaimed, but its essence remains intact: the Western Hemisphere is still treated as Washington's exclusive sphere of influence.

By its own repeated actions, Washington has emerged as one of the most serious threats to the very international order it claims to defend.

For the rest of the world, speaking out unequivocally in defense of sovereignty and multilateralism is no longer optional. It is essential to preventing a return to a world where power, not law, decides the fate of nations.