The turmoil unfolding in Venezuela leaves little room for applause. It is painful to watch Canadians, including members of the Punjabi Sikh community, treating the detention of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife by U.S. forces as a moment of victory. Global organizations have already called the arrests a breach of the United Nations charter and a blow to the basic rules that protect smaller nations from powerful ones.

Canada’s response has been timid. The prime minister’s remarks sounded hesitant and faint, very different from Jean Chrétien’s firm decision years ago to keep this country out of the U.S. attack on Iraq. That stand showed that Canada could think and speak for itself rather than simply follow American plans. Today, the same clarity is missing, and Surrey residents should notice the danger in that silence.

Trump’s move against Maduro carries echoes of the tragedy that struck Surrey in June 2023 when Hardeep Singh Nijjar, president of the Surrey-Delta Gurdwara, was killed by suspected agents linked to the Modi government in New Delhi. Indian leaders have boasted about reaching into the houses of opponents and ending their lives. Nijjar campaigned peacefully for a Sikh homeland in northern India, yet India labeled him an enemy of the state. Canadians who say they care about Nijjar weaken their own argument when they cheer U.S. soldiers seizing a foreign leader thousands of kilometres away.

Any positive gloss placed on Maduro’s arrest risks excusing the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. The principle is the same: the future of Venezuela must rest in Venezuelan hands. If crimes occur, neutral international courts — not American battalions — should weigh the evidence. The United States is not a criminal tribunal for the planet, and allowing it to behave as one sets a precedent that could later be used to justify attacks on other communities.

Those in Surrey who support Washington should also ask why the U.S. shows no appetite to challenge the Modi government despite credible reports that it plotted to kill citizens in Canada and the United States while pushing down minorities and political critics at home. If Washington claims the right to police Caracas, logic would demand equal pressure on New Delhi.

Canadians on both sides of the border must look beyond partisan loyalty and remember that foreign intervention rarely brings justice. It often deepens grief, divides diaspora groups, and mocks the memory of people like Nijjar. Surrey is a city shaped by migrants who know the cost of state violence. That knowledge should make us cautious, not celebratory, when another nation is placed under the boot of American power.