{"id":311942,"date":"2026-01-12T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=311942"},"modified":"2026-01-12T07:07:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T07:07:42","slug":"the-u-s-desperately-wants-back-in-the-business-of-empire-with-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2026\/01\/the-u-s-desperately-wants-back-in-the-business-of-empire-with-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"The U.S. Desperately Wants Back in the Business of Empire with Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Pro-government supporters attend a rally a day after the capture of Nicolas Maduro by US forces on 4 Jan 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela.
Photo: Carlos Becerra\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

The USA carried out a coup in Venezuela to plunder the country\u2019s resources. But Latin Americans will have the last word.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

8 Jan 2026\u00a0<\/em>–\u00a0The first coup<\/span> of 2026 is in the books. In the early hours of January 3, the U.S. launched a large-scale military operation involving over 150 airplanes, which culminated in the swift capture of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, who is now imprisoned in New York. Hours after Maduro\u2019s kidnapping, Donald Trump announced<\/a> the U.S. would \u201crun the country\u201d for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Venezuela posed no threat to the United States, and under international law, there is no plausible justification for Trump\u2019s attack. But it goes beyond that: By forcefully deposing a sitting president, the U.S. has eroded any pretense that the already-battered rules-based international order exists. While many of Trump\u2019s critics in government and policy circles bemoan his flouting of procedure, Trump operates as a blatant imperialist \u2014 and is immensely proud of it.<\/p>\n

There are multiple reasons for Trump\u2019s actions in Venezuela \u2014 a desire to destroy the Latin American Left; White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller\u2019s anti-immigrant crusade; Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2019s long-standing quest to topple Cuba, with Venezuela a first step to that end \u2014 but crude materialism is at the top of the list.<\/p>\n

During a Saturday press conference announcing Maduro\u2019s apprehension, which Trump astonishingly referred to as \u201can attack on sovereignty,\u201d Rubio spoke of the operation in legalistic terms, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth waxed lyrical about the brave and manly \u201cwarriors\u201d who carried it out. Trump returned over and over to his brazenly colonial intention to plunder Venezuela and profit from its valuable oil industry, one of his longtime fixations.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s removal of Maduro sets an incredibly dangerous precedent for Latin America. Trump and Co. have sent an explicit message to Latin American leaders, particularly leftists: Do our bidding or we will do with you as we please. The tactical success of the operation to remove Maduro will all but surely embolden Trump officials to consider, and likely attempt, similar actions elsewhere in the region and beyond<\/a>. The most obvious next target is Cuba, which Rubio said<\/a> is \u201cin a lot of trouble\u201d and Trump has said<\/a> is \u201cready to fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s critical to underscore that the U.S. invasion of Venezuela is a flagrant and entirely unacceptable act of neocolonial plunder, or as Sen. Bernie Sanders put it<\/a>, an act of \u201crank imperialism.\u201d As ABC News<\/a> and Reuters<\/a> have reported, the Trump administration has told Venezuela\u2019s interim government that it must meet a set of nakedly neocolonial conditions before it can resume producing and selling oil: Sever economic and strategic ties with China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba, and expel them from the country; exclusively partner with the U.S. on oil production; favor the U.S. in sales of oil, particularly of heavy crude; and give the U.S. control over oil logistics to block rivals\u2019 access to Venezuelan oil.<\/p>\n

These reports come after Trump claimed on Tuesday<\/a> that Venezuela\u2019s interim authorities are \u201cturning over\u201d 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S., and Trump himself will control the profits. On Wednesday, he also announced<\/a> Venezuela would be forced to buy only American-made goods with money from \u201cour new Oil Deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it should be obvious, it must be said: The U.S. has absolutely no right to \u201crun\u201d Venezuela or to control or profit from its oil industry. Venezuela\u2019s oil belongs to Venezuela \u2014 not to Donald Trump, the U.S. government, or U.S. oil companies. Trump\u2019s attack on Venezuela also resurrects the darkest days of naked U.S. imperialism. Trump is eager to make this explicit by celebrating the 1823 Monroe Doctrine<\/a>. The doctrine, and the imperialism it came to represent, has been used to justify innumerable U.S. interventions in Latin America, including the 1954 CIA-sponsored overthrow of Guatemalan President Jacobo \u00c1rbenz the 1973 U.S.-backed coup against Chilean President Salvador Allende, and the more recent U.S.-backed coups in Venezuela in 2002, Haiti in 1991 and 2004, Honduras in 2009<\/a>, Bolivia in 2019<\/a>, and the 2016 parliamentary coup in Brazil<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The illegal, imperialist, and neocolonial character of the coup in Caracas is clear, but much about Trump\u2019s actions is not \u2014 starting with the fact that this regime change operation hasn\u2019t brought about a change of regime. While Maduro is gone, the Maduro regime appears relatively intact. Maduro\u2019s vice president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, has become Venezuela\u2019s acting president, and as of now it appears the Venezuelan military chain of command remains largely as it was before Maduro\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n

According to Trump<\/a>, Rubio spoke with Rodr\u00edguez, and \u201cshe is willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.\u201d (Tellingly, Trump also said she has been \u201cquite gracious, but she really doesn\u2019t have a choice.\u201d) Rodr\u00edguez initially struck a defiant public tone, demanding Maduro\u2019s restoration as president. A day later, however, she issued a conciliatory statement on Instagram<\/a>, which read in part: \u201cWe invite the U.S. government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development.\u201d<\/p>\n

The swiftness and relative ease of the U.S. operation \u2014 alongside reporting<\/a> from October on talks between the U.S. and Venezuela to install Rodr\u00edguez as president in place of Maduro \u2014 suggests that she and others in the upper echelons of the Maduro administration may have acted in some degree of coordination with the U.S.<\/p>\n

The flipside of Trump\u2019s apparent, if lukewarm, embrace of Rodr\u00edguez is his astonishingly explicit rejection of Nobel Peace Prize winner Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, widely viewed as the heir apparent in a post-Maduro Venezuela. Trump has praised<\/a> Machado in the past, but during his Saturday press conference, he unequivocally threw her under the bus, saying she \u201cdoesn\u2019t have the respect within\u201d Venezuela to be president. It would have seemed unthinkable to write these words a week ago, but it seems the biggest loser in Maduro\u2019s removal, apart from Maduro himself, is Machado and the right-wing Venezuelan opposition.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by armed federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a federal courthouse in New York City on 5 Jan 2026.
Photo: XNY\/Star Max\/GC Images via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

The notion of democracy was strikingly absent from Trump\u2019s press conference, and there are no signs that the Trump administration will be pressing Rodr\u00edguez on this issue any time soon. When reporters specifically asked<\/a> Trump about the prospects for free elections in Venezuela, he said, \u201cWell, it depends,\u201d and immediately began discussing oil companies.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez is notably serving as acting president with Venezuela\u2019s Supreme Court declaring<\/a> Maduro temporarily<\/em>, rather than permanently, unable to fulfill his duties. This means Rodr\u00edguez does not have to call elections within 30 days, as Venezuela\u2019s constitution would require her to do in the event that Maduro were to be deemed permanently unable to resume his duties as president. Those expecting Maduro\u2019s ouster to lead to a political opening in Venezuela will have to wait.<\/p>\n

The Culmination of Operation Southern Spear \u2014 For Now<\/h2>\n

While the timing and details of Maduro\u2019s abduction came as a surprise, the action does not come out of the blue. It is the culmination, to date, of \u201cOperation Southern Spear,\u201d which has seen the largest buildup<\/a> of U.S. naval forces in the Caribbean in decades. The U.S. has stationed 15,000 troops on at least eight warships in the Caribbean, including the USS Gerald Ford, touted as the most advanced aircraft carrier in the world. Since early September<\/a>, Trump has engaged in a boat-bombing murder spree<\/a>, which has now killed at least 115 in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific on unproven charges<\/a> that they were involved in narco-trafficking. On Sunday, Rubio told<\/a> NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d \u201cWe will continue to reserve the right to take strikes against drug boats.\u201d<\/p>\n

In December, the U.S. engaged in brazen piracy by seizing one Venezuelan oil tanker<\/a>, boarding but not seizing another, and engaging in a weekslong pursuit of a third tanker, which Russia stepped in to protect. On Wednesday, the U.S. seized this vessel and another tanker.<\/a><\/p>\n

On December 16, Trump announced he was imposing a \u201ctotal and complete blockade\u201d of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers. Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro called the blockade<\/a> \u201cunquestionably an act of war.\u201d Francisco Rodr\u00edguez, a senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote <\/a>that it \u201cis likely to trigger the first major famine in the Western Hemisphere in modern history.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Maduro\u2019s kidnapping, Rubio announced<\/a> the blockade \u201cremains in place, and that\u2019s a tremendous amount of leverage that will continue to be in place until we see changes that not just further the national interest of the United States, which is number one, but also that lead to a better future for the people of Venezuela.\u201d Rubio\u2019s remarks clarify that the U.S. will not be involved in the day-to-day running of Venezuela, but instead will \u201ccontrol\u201d the country using \u201cleverage,\u201d i.e., the threat of economic devastation, provided by the blockade. As a since-altered<\/a> New York Times headline aptly put it<\/a>: \u201cRubio Stresses U.S. Plan to Coerce Venezuela Rather Than Govern It.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Pete Hegseth speaks during a Cabinet meeting on 2 Dec 2025, in Washington, D.C.\u00a0 Photo: Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

There is no question that the operation to oust Maduro was a tactical success. Trump boasted that no U.S. forces were harmed and no equipment damaged in the attack; however, reports suggest at least one U.S. helicopter was hit by Venezuelan forces, and six<\/a> or seven<\/a> U.S. troops were injured. Maduro\u2019s removal occurred with relatively little bloodshed, although accounts indicate at least 80 civilian and military casualties<\/a>, including 32 Cuban security forces based in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

However \u201csmoothly<\/a>\u201d it may have gone, the operation cannot be considered a success for Venezuela. Trump\u2019s plans to plunder Venezuela\u2019s economy and Rubio\u2019s strategy of openly coercing Rodr\u00edguez and others through the oil blockade suggest that the U.S. campaign will not only fail to lessen the profound suffering of ordinary Venezuelans<\/a>, but will almost surely lead to even greater suffering. This is particularly true regarding the blockade, which will cause unimaginable harm<\/a> if it continues for any length of time.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s Venezuela policy also seems to be ringing hollow among the powerful. Historian Greg Grandin<\/a> argues that foreign policy<\/a> is the realm in which domestic hegemony \u2014 agreement within the ruling class \u2014 is forged. But far from generating elite consensus and popular consent, Trump\u2019s actions toward Venezuela have provoked significant dissent. This has been true for months, with Trump\u2019s boat-bombing campaign provoking bipartisan pushback. Many Democrats and a smaller number<\/a> of Republicans<\/a> have strongly criticized Hegseth\u2019s involvement in the campaign.<\/p>\n

Much of this opposition centered on the so-called \u201cdouble-tap\u201d strike against the first boat bombed on September 2, which The Intercept first reported<\/a>, where a military drone strike killed nine of the 11 passengers on a boat allegedly carrying cocaine destined for the U.S. For the next roughly 45 minutes, the two survivors struggled in the water <\/a>before they were killed by a second drone strike<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An explosive November 28 Washington Post<\/a> article stirred up furor <\/a>over the double-tap strike, which many called a war crime. Maduro\u2019s abduction has also provoked bipartisan critique. A vocal minority of Republicans<\/a>, led by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have criticized the action, with Greene saying<\/a> it followed the \u201csame Washington playbook\u201d and only serves \u201cthe big corporations, the banks, and the oil executives.\u201d Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., also condemned Trump\u2019s actions, writing on X<\/a>, \u201cWake up MAGA. VENEZUELA is not about drugs; it\u2019s about OIL and REGIME CHANGE. This is not what we voted for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Precious few elected officials have raised the fundamental question: Does the U.S. have the right to infringe upon another nation\u2019s sovereignty?<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Many more Democrats have denounced Trump\u2019s attack on Venezuela. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a notably mild<\/a> procedural critique of Trump, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer making a stronger, but similarly procedural<\/a> statement, criticizing Trump\u2019s actions in Venezuela as \u201creckless.\u201d Progressive leaders such Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a>, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> criticized Trump in a more forcefully anti-imperialist way.<\/p>\n

Polls show the U.S. public is highly skeptical<\/a> about Trump\u2019s Venezuela policy. In a Reuters\/Ipsos poll<\/a> conducted from December 3 to 8, 48 percent of respondents opposed striking suspected drug boats without prior court approval, with just 34 percent saying they approve. There was a notable partisan split amongst respondents: 67 percent of Republican respondents backed the boat strikes, while only 9 percent of Democratic respondents did. A Washington Post poll<\/a> conducted this weekend found that 42 percent of Americans disapproved of the U.S. sending troops to remove Maduro, with 40 percent approval. Only 24 percent of respondents support the U.S. controlling Venezuela and choosing a new government, with 45 percent opposed. A staggering 94 percent of respondents said Venezuelans, not the U.S., should decide Venezuela\u2019s future leadership.<\/p>\n

Critiques of Trump\u2019s Venezuela policy have taken several forms. One line of criticism contests the claim that Venezuela is a narco-state supplying a significant portion of lethal drugs to the United States. This claim falls flat in numerous ways. First, Venezuela supplies none of the fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that causes a majority<\/a> of lethal drug overdoses, that enters the United States. Second, while Venezuela is a transit route for cocaine, it is a very minor player as the vast majority of South American cocaine comes to the U.S. through the Pacific. Third, and relatedly, most cocaine that passes through Venezuela is destined for Europe, not the United States.<\/p>\n

Finally, it is all but impossible to believe the boat bombings or Maduro\u2019s ouster were motivated by concern over \u201cnarco-trafficking\u201d in the wake of Trump\u2019s December 1 pardon of Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a>, the Honduran ex-president who is as paradigmatic an example of a \u201cnarco-state leader\u201d as you are likely to find. It is also telling that on Monday, just before Maduro\u2019s indictment, the Department of Justice dropped<\/a> its claim that the Cartel de los Soles \u2014 which Trump has repeatedly claimed Maduro is the head<\/a> of \u2014 is an actual organization.<\/p>\n

Another line of critique focuses on the lack of transparency around the operation, specifically the fact that Trump cut Congress out of the process. The growing number of Republicans willing to break ranks with Trump favor this line of attack, as do many Democrats. Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, for example, criticized Trump<\/a> for circumventing Congress and issued a statement<\/a> about Maduro\u2019s ouster that failed to explicitly condemn it but merely raised concerns about how hard it is to get regime change right. Schumer called for congressional hearings on Trump\u2019s Venezuela policy in December but refused<\/a> to rule out regime change when pressed to do so.<\/p>\n

On the Republican side, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul had been one of the most consistent and outspoken critics<\/a> of Trump\u2019s Venezuela policy, calling<\/a> the boat bombings \u201coutrageous\u201d and questioning their legality<\/a> in general, not just the double-tap strike. Paul has also been critical of Trump\u2019s refusal to pursue his policy with congressional approval. Yet Paul has surprisingly supported<\/a> Maduro\u2019s forceful removal.<\/p>\n

Conspicuously lacking in these procedural, legal, and occasionally moral criticisms is any gesture at the issue of empire. Precious few elected officials have raised the fundamental question: Does the U.S. have the right to infringe upon another nation\u2019s sovereignty? There are some exceptions, with Sanders, arguably the most forceful critic of Trump\u2019s recent actions, blasting Trump\u2019s \u201cillegal and unconstitutional\u201d actions as\u00a0 \u201crank imperialism.\u201d Along with Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders is one of a handful of progressives who have condemned<\/a> U.S. sanctions on Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Maduro\u2019s Kidnapping and Its Consequences<\/h2>\n

The possible repercussions of Maduro\u2019s removal are terrifying. In the immediate aftermath, the swift tactical success of the military operation has emboldened<\/a> the Trump administration. In his weekend press conference, Trump referenced <\/a>the Monroe Doctrine and its updated life as the \u201cDonroe Doctrine\u201d and proudly stated, \u201cAmerican dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump and Rubio have both indicated their openness to bringing about regime change in Cuba. Trump has repeatedly threatened<\/a> Colombian President Gustavo Petro and said he is open to invading the country. Trump and his officials<\/a> have reiterated their desire to annex Greenland. Mexico has also been mentioned<\/a> as a possible future target of U.S. aggression.<\/p>\n

U.S. power is not unlimited. On January 4, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Spain \u2014 all led by leftist governments, though Chile will soon be led by a far-right leader \u2014 issued a joint statement<\/a> condemning the U.S. attack on Venezuela as a violation of international law that endangers peace and stability in the region. The statement also rejects foreign appropriation of another nation\u2019s resources. During an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, the U.S. attack on Venezuela was widely condemned including by U.S. allies, with the French ambassador stating the U.S. attack \u201cchips away at the very foundation of international order.\u201d A Reuters\/Ipsos poll<\/a> released January 5 found only one-third of the American public supports U.S. military action against Maduro and that 72 percent of Americans are concerned the U.S. will become too involved in Venezuela.<\/p>\n

There is little doubt the Trump administration will continue to threaten Latin America and other regions of the world. But the results of this unchecked imperialism may not always be to Trump\u2019s liking. In addition to intimidating leaders into submitting to U.S. power, there is also the possibility that imperial overreach will spark nationalist and popular backlashes that in turn benefit leftist and anti-imperialist forces. This is precisely what happened earlier this year when Trump\u2019s heavy-handed support for jailed Brazilian ex-President Jair Bolsonaro and threats to slap Brazil with 50 percent tariffs boosted<\/a> Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva\u2019s flagging popularity. A similar pattern unfolded in 2002, when Evo Morales shot to the top of Bolivian presidential polls after the U.S. ambassador called him a narco-terrorist. Trump may think this is \u201cour\u201d hemisphere, as his State Department does<\/a>, but Latin Americans will have the last word.<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/p>\n

Gabriel Hetland is the author of the book <\/em>Democracy on the Ground: Local Politics in Latin America\u2019s Left Turn.<\/p>\n

Go to Original – theintercept.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8 Jan 2026\u00a0–\u00a0The USA carried out a coup in Venezuela to plunder the country\u2019s resources. But Latin Americans will have the last word. Precious few elected officials have raised the fundamental question: Does the U.S. have the right to infringe upon another nation\u2019s sovereignty?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":311945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[225],"tags":[867,1441,417,3614,1126,1050,950,541,559,3530,86,2571,1190,329,2137,880,249,124,1888,70,557],"class_list":["post-311942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlight","tag-anglo-america","tag-big-oil","tag-bullying","tag-disaster-capitalism","tag-hegemony","tag-imperialism","tag-invasion","tag-latin-america-caribbean","tag-maduro","tag-military-capitalism","tag-occupation","tag-official-lies-and-narratives","tag-regime-change","tag-resources","tag-south-america","tag-state-terrorism","tag-trump","tag-united-nations","tag-unsc","tag-usa","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311942"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":311948,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311942\/revisions\/311948"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}