KAMPALA, Uganda — President Yoweri Museveni has characterized the recent arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States as a profound “lesson” for Africa, emphasizing that the continent must urgently develop its own strategic security capabilities to survive in a volatile global order.
Addressing a group of young people during an interactive session titled “Jazz With Jajja,” the President used the unfolding crisis in South America to highlight the technical and military disparities between global superpowers and fragmented regional states.
The four dimensions of modern power
President Museveni observed that the U.S. operation in Venezuela demonstrates a multi-dimensional military dominance that most developing nations are currently unequipped to counter.
He identified these domains as land, sea, air, and space, noting that modern warfare is increasingly won from above and afar.
“I don’t know what they are fighting for because Americans are saying that some of the Latin Americans are sending drugs to the US, but we shall learn more. But whatever the case, you can see the gaps I am telling you about,” the President remarked.
He further elaborated on how this dominance is structured:
“Americans are operating from four dimensions: the sea — and Latin Americans don’t have a navy; the air; space; and now they are trying to come on land,” he said. “In space, you are at an advantage — you see me, I don’t. In the ocean, I am not there. This is what we are talking about as Africans.”
Strategic security: The need for a “center of gravity”
A recurring theme in the President’s discourse was the danger of national isolationism.
He warned that even large African nations lack the “strategic security” required to withstand external aggression if they remain diplomatically and militarily fragmented.
“It presents the issue of strategic security. You( as a single Africa country) can remain big fish in a small pond, but when trouble comes, you may not survive. The strategic security of Africa is very crucial,” Museveni stated.
The President drew a comparison to smaller European nations like Denmark, which benefit from a “center of gravity” through alliances with larger powers—a protection he argues Africa currently lacks.
“You can have small countries in the world like Denmark but have a center of gravity. When they are in trouble, a big boy like the US defends them. But the entire African continent doesn’t have one, and it is very risky,” he warned.
The East African solution
Despite the somber assessment, the President praised the steps taken by regional leaders within the East African Community (EAC) to foster unity. He argued that collective resources and a shared identity, specifically through the use of Kiswahili, could transform the region into a formidable global player.
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“I am happy leaders of East Africa have never given up on this matter. We are able to unite our land and sea space, have more resources to build capacity on land, sea, in air, and in space,” he said.
Concluding his address, he urged the youth and leaders alike to shed their complacency regarding high-tech defense sectors, particularly space technology.
“We can’t remain here when other people are in space and say we are clever. You should wake up. East Africa has all the potential. We are very strong. We can use Kiswahili to unite ourselves.”
