On the night of January 3, U.S. forces detained the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas. They were urgently flown to New York, where federal prosecutors immediately brought charges ranging from “narco-terrorism” and organizing transnational drug trafficking to possession of weapons “with the intent to harm the United States.”
The U.S. president stated that Venezuela would remain under American control until a “safe and responsible transfer of power” becomes possible.
The Monroe Doctrine as the Foundation of the Conflict
The confrontation between Washington and Caracas did not begin with Trump, nor with Maduro. Its roots lie in a doctrine formulated back in 1823 by the fifth U.S. president, James Monroe. Its essence is simple: the Western Hemisphere is a zone of exclusive U.S. interests, and any external influence there is treated as a threat.
For two centuries, this logic has repeatedly served as justification for interventions from Guatemala and Nicaragua to Panama and Grenada.
Chávez, Socialism, and a New Enemy
Venezuela occupies a special place in this history. In 1999, Hugo Chávez came to power, announcing a course toward socialism, nationalization, and resistance to “Western imperialism.” He openly criticized the United States, condemned the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and accused Washington of supporting the failed coup attempt of 2002.
After Chávez’s death, power passed to Maduro, who inherited both the ideology and the confrontation. Since 2013, his regime has been regularly accused of authoritarian governance, election fraud, and repression of the opposition. The culmination came with the 2018 presidential election, whose results were not recognized by the United States, the European Union, Canada, and a number of Latin American countries.
“Narco-terrorism”: Trump’s Accusation
During Trump’s first presidential term, Venezuela was already one of his main foreign-policy targets. After his return to the White House, the rhetoric became even harsher. In 2025, Trump openly stated that if the United States failed to restore dominance in the Western Hemisphere, it would cease to be an effective global power. In this context, Venezuela was seen as a key problem: a socialist government, close ties with Russia, China, and Iran, and control over vast resources.
The legal basis for the operation became accusations of links to the so-called “Cartel of the Suns.” According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Venezuela’s elite allegedly turned the country into a hub of international drug trafficking. However, many researchers consider these claims highly questionable. Journalists from The Atlantic and The New York Times note that the “Cartel of the Suns” is more of a political label that emerged in the 1990s to describe individual corrupt military officers, rather than a unified criminal organization. The main flow of cocaine into the United States comes from Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, where the largest coca plantations are located. Even data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime show that Venezuela’s role in global drug trafficking is secondary and incomparable to the scale of the problem described by Washington.
Oil as the Main Argument
U.S. actions appear to be driven primarily by Venezuela’s resources. The country possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves, as well as significant deposits of gold, rare earth elements, and other strategic minerals. Trump has already stated that American oil companies are ready to return to Venezuela, restore infrastructure, and begin extraction.
Global Reaction and a Signal to the Region
Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran condemned Maduro’s detention as a blatant violation of sovereignty. The UN warned of the risk of regional destabilization. European leaders took a cautious stance, avoiding a direct confrontation with the United States.
In the White House, however, the operation is being presented as a success. The trial of Maduro in New York, scheduled for January 5, is set to become a warning to all regimes that attempt to challenge American influence in the Western Hemisphere.
