The US will run Venezuela until there is a peaceful transition of power, Donald Trump has said after capturing Venezuela’s left-wing President Nicolas Maduro in an overnight raid.
At least seven explosions and low-flying aircrafts were seen in the capital, Caracas, and rising smoke was spotted in numerous regions at approximately 2am during the “large-scale” attack.
Trump warned the US is “ready to stage a second and much larger attack”, at a press conference on Saturday at his residence in Mar-a-Lago.
Venezuela’s left-wing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured and taken out of the country in a military operation in conjunction with US law enforcement. They have been indicted with several offences, including narco-terrorism.
In a press conference on Saturday Trump vowed to “run the country”. He said: “We are going to run the country until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” He said this will also involve the US oil firms entering the country as well.
Why is Trump targeting Venezuela?
Over the past few months, Trump has accused Maduro of being a top-level member of a drug cartel, “Cartel de los Soles”, which he claims is trafficking drugs into the US. Trump has not shared evidence of Maduro’s involvement but has used these allegations to justify his lethal military operations against Venezuelan ships.
When asked about his reasons for actions in Venezuela by Fox News presenter Peter Doocy, Trump also cited immigration as the reason. Trump said: “One of the things it’s about is the fact that they’ve allowed millions of people to come into our country from their prisons, from gangs, from drug dealers, and from mental institutions.”
He made similar claims during the 2024 presidential election campaign, when Trump and his officials on several occasions blamed Venezuela for sending too many migrants to the US. They claimed the country was “opening up the prisons” and encouraging criminals to flock to America’s borders.
There is also the question of natural resources. Venezuela is rich in oil and rare earth minerals, which serve as extremely valuable commodities. The South American country has $1.36 trillion worth of mineral wealth, according to Maduro.
After the US seized an oil tanker in December, Caracas directly accused the US of trying to plunder Venezuela for its natural resources. The Venezuelan government in a statement said: “Under these circumstances, the true reasons for the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed… It has always been about our natural resources, our oil, our energy, the resources that belong exclusively to the Venezuelan people.”
US Attorney General Pam Bomdi has claimed that an oil tanker seized last month off the coast of Venezuela was carrying sanctioned oil intended for Iran. Venezuela has denied this accusation and labelled Trump’s actions as an “act of international piracy”.
What led to the strikes?
Tensions between the two countries have been rising for months. They were ramped up significantly in September, when the US launched military strikes on alleged “drug smuggling” boats in the coastal waters of Venezuela.
These airstrikes were later extended into the eastern Caribbean and along the Pacific, with 110 killed so far.
The US has confiscated two oil tankers and are in pursuit of a third. Trump also issued new sanctions on three of Maduro’s nephews as well as six companies that ship oil out of the country that month, according to Axios.
What could happen next?
US senator Mike Lee says Marco Rubio, Trump’s Secretary of State, told him that Maduro will stand trial on criminal charges in the US.
The US Justice Department released a new indictment of Maduro and his wife which accuses Maduro of leading a “a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.”
It alleges that the drug trafficking efforts “enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite.”
US authorities allege that Maduro partnered with “some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world” to bring tons of cocaine into the US, according to the indictment.
Venezuela’s allies have rushed to condemn the US military action. In a statement, Russia’s foreign ministry criticised what it called “an act of armed aggression” and said Caracas “must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive, let alone military, outside intervention”.
“Ideologically driven hostility has prevailed over practical pragmatism and a willingness to build relations based on trust and predictability,” they said.
“We reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and our support for the course pursued by its Bolivarian leadership to defend the country’s national interests and sovereignty,” it added.
Vladimir Putin is a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has been captured by the US. Last year, Maduro visited Moscow for Russia’s annual military parade and signed a broad partnership agreement with the Russian leader.
Iran’s foreign ministry also condemned the strikes, saying the action was “a blatant violation of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The Venezuelan government has called for socialist militias and grass-root organisations to take action.
