Hyderabad: On the early morning of January 3, the US struck Venezuela’s capital, Caracas and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a military operation. This culminates a months-long pressure campaign by US President Donald Trump’s administration after he took office for his second term.
Trump, several months before the 2024 US presidential election, said he wanted Venezuela to collapse as that would enable a takeover of the country. During his first term, the Trump administration formally charged President Nicolas Maduro and his top aides with alleged involvement in drug trafficking. The US had also recognised Juan Guaido, an opposition politician, as the acting President of Venezuela.
Maduro and his wife were flown out of the country to New York and accused of drug offences. Trump, during the press conference, said that Maduro has been indicted and announced that the US would temporarily ‘run’ Venezuela until a safe transition of power took place. He added that the US will work to tap the country’s massive oil reserves.
The road to a drug kingdom
The capture was not a standalone, sudden action by the Trump administration on South American country.
There are reports that US forces have conducted at least 30 strikes and killed more than 100 people since September on alleged drug trafficking boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Trump has accused Maduro of helping drug cartels that Washington designated as terror groups, alleging they were responsible for thousands of US deaths tied to illegal drug use and asking him to give up the power.
Bounty on Maduro
In August, the US increased the bounty on Maduro to $50 million.
This started in 2020, when the US first announced $15 million for information, which could help in the arrest of Maduro. And it is not just Trump; the amount was increased to $25 million in January 2025, during the final days of the Biden administration.
Notably, in the history of the US Narcotics Rewards Program, Maduro became the first target with a reward offer exceeding $25 million, as the Cartel of the Suns, of which he was an alleged leader, was designated a ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’, and this came months after Trump took office.
Why does the US administration want regime change?
Stanly Johny, the International Affairs Editor of The Hindu, puts forth three reasons: Oil, the China-Russia factor and the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, establishing US hegemony in its backyard.
1. Oil
Venezuela has 17 per cent of the world’s known oil reserves and Trump has an eye on it. Under Hugo Chavez’s wave of nationalism, the country tightened its grip over the oil resources, while the US American companies such as Exxon, Mobil and Gulf Oil were active players in Venezuela’s oil sector till 1976. Before nationalisation found its feet, foreign companies accounted for 70 per cent of oil production in Venezuela.
Trump threatened Venezuela to return all the ‘stolen American oil, land and assets’ last month in a direct reference to Venezuela’s nationalisation of its oil resources.
2. The China-Russia factor
To maintain the US hegemony, Trump wants to keep a check on the influence of China and Russia in the Western Hemisphere, including Venezuela. China accounts for nearly 80 per cent of Venezuela’s oil purchases. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is also the largest foreign company with investments and operations in Venezuela’s oil sector.
A private Chinese company, China Concord Resources Corporation, signed a $1 billion agreement with PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil company, to develop two oilfields in Lake Maracaibo. The growing influence of China in Venezuela would be an irritant for US hegemony.
3. Monroe Doctrine of 1823
President James Monroe declared in 1823 that the Americas were off-limits to future European interference and colonisation, which established the US hegemony in its backyard.
Trump wants to reimpose American primacy in the Western Hemisphere. The recently released National Security Doctrine of the Trump administration identifies Latin America and the Caribbean as a strategic priority, which means the US must stop the growth of outside powers in Latin America and ensure that the Western Hemisphere remains under American political, economic and military influence.
