Before daybreak on Friday, the US launched airstrikes throughout Venezuela, causing explosions in Caracas, the country’s capital. Donald Trump declared shortly after that Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been taken prisoner by US forces and flown out of the nation.
Following months of heavy US pressure on Venezuela, there was a startling attack and an unprecedented capture of a sitting president. Since September, the US navy has gathered a sizable fleet off the coast of Venezuela, conducted airstrikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean, and taken control of Venezuelan oil tankers. Human rights organizations claim that the attacks on boats, which have killed at least 110 people, may qualify as war crimes.
The United States is allegedly attempting to obtain access to Venezuela’s greatest oil reserves in the world, according to Venezuelan officials.
The US effort has escalated significantly and dramatically with the bombardment of Venezuela and Maduro’s detention. The ruling regime in Venezuela’s future is still up in the air.
Maduro has been the target of Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against the Venezuelan government since he assumed office for a second term.
He charged Maduro with being responsible for destabilizing activities in the Americas, such as illegal immigration to the United States and drug trafficking. The United States declared a $50 million (£37 million) bounty on Maduro’s head in July, accusing him of being one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers.
The Trump administration started conducting airstrikes against accused drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea and designated Venezuelan gangs like Tren de Aragua as terrorist organizations. The US quickly increased its military presence in the waterways around the South American nation and started to capture Venezuelan tankers.
Trump has publicly entertained the notion of overthrowing the Venezuelan government. In late November, Trump offered Maduro safe passage out of the nation in exchange for an ultimatum to cede control. Maduro rejected the offer, accusing the US of desiring control of his nation’s oil wealth and assuring supporters in Venezuela that he did not want “a slave’s peace.”
The Caracas leadership occasionally appeared perplexed as the Trump administration increased the pressure. Maduro frequently stated that Venezuela does not want war with the United States. At one point, he mimicked Trump’s double-fist pumping dance style while dancing in front of Venezuelan students to the song “no war, yes peace.” Two days prior to his arrest, on Thursday.
Since Hugo Chávez took office in 1999, relations between the United States and Venezuela have been tense. Chávez, a self-described socialist and anti-imperialist, infuriated the United States by opposing its invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and by forming ties with nations like Iran and Cuba. After Chávez claimed that the US had supported a coup attempt in 2002, relations further deteriorated.
The socialist ideology of Venezuela’s government has made it an obvious enemy of the United States, along with its partner Cuba, according to many Americans, especially those in the more hawkish wing of the Republican party.
The US denounced Venezuela for its dismal human rights record as Chávez consolidated power, punished political rivals, and seized control of a large portion of the private sector. The two nations’ relationship has deteriorated over time, particularly when Maduro came to power in 2013, despite sporadic little thaws.
In 2019, the US recognized Juan Guaidó, the speaker of the parliament, as president of Venezuela, portraying the Maduro government as illegitimate under the Trump administration.
Maduro seemed to lose the July 2024 presidential election by a considerable margin due to public outrage over his increasingly autocratic rule and Venezuela’s economic catastrophe. Edmundo González, the opposition candidate, was declared the winner by the Biden administration. He had won the poll, according to comprehensive voting statistics made public by the opposition and confirmed by independent experts, but Maduro held onto power after initiating a brutal crackdown.
The Trump administration released the “Trump corollary” at the beginning of December, stating that the US must have political, economic, commercial, and military dominance throughout the western hemisphere. The US military may be utilized to obtain access to the region’s mineral and oil resources as part of the new Trump doctrine.
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