World
As deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro faces criminal charges in the US, Donald Trump vows to revitalise the South American nation’s oil industry, and issues warnings to Cuba, Colombia and Greenland. By Jonathan Pearlman.
Trump’s Venezuela snatch and grab upends rule of law
Maduro deposed
Nicolás Maduro told a court in New York on Monday he was a “kidnapped president” and pleaded innocent to drugs charges, two days after he was seized by United States special forces from his safe house in Venezuela and deposed as leader.
Donald Trump’s move to oust Maduro sent shockwaves across Latin America and raised questions about the future of Venezuela, an oil-rich country already in the grip of a long-running economic and political crisis.
Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chávez as president in 2013, was seized with his wife, Cilia Flores, from their compound in Caracas during a US attack about 2am local time on Saturday. An estimated 80 people were killed, including 32 Cubans who operated as Maduro’s security detail.
The attack followed months of US pressure on Maduro, including a build-up in the Caribbean region of about 15,000 troops, who have destroyed dozens of boats believed to be carrying drugs.
Trump has accused Maduro of being a drug cartel leader and blamed him for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants to the US. About eight million Venezuelans have left the country since 2013 as the economy slumped and Maduro tightened his repressive rule. Trump initially said the US will “run” the country, but US officials later said they will back the current regime and will seek to influence policy.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC this week that Washington did not plan to back the opposition – led by Nobel Peace Prize-winner María Corina Machado – and will instead support Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice-president, who has been sworn in as interim leader.
“The immediate reality is that, unfortunately, and sadly … the vast majority of the opposition is no longer inside of Venezuela,” Rubio said.
Rodríguez initially condemned the US and declared that Venezuela will “never again be anyone’s colony” but has since changed tone and invited the US to develop “an agenda of cooperation”.
The removal of Maduro raised hopes in Venezuela of an end to authoritarian rule, but the government quickly moved to crush local opposition. The government ordered the arrest of journalists and activists and deployed paramilitary groups, who set up checkpoints and searched for backers of the US raid. Protests and other gatherings were banned.
A 33-year-old in Caracas told BBC News there was “so much fear in the streets and in our homes”.
In New York, Maduro was charged with “narco-terrorism” and cocaine and machine-gun offences. The 63-year-old told the court: “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”
Crude oil
Trump promised this week that the removal of Maduro would allow Venezuela’s massive oil holdings to flow again, saying he will encourage US businesses to invest in the nation’s failing energy infrastructure.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies … start making money for the country,” he said.
Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves but accounts for less than 1 per cent of current global production. The country’s output plunged in recent decades due to corruption, US sanctions and state intervention in the sector, which discouraged foreign investment.
Trump has accused Venezuela of stealing from US companies that were once major investors in the oil industry.
In 1976, Venezuela nationalised the sector, which caused US$5 billion in losses to Exxon, Mobil, Chevron and Gulf Oil. The companies were compensated about US$1 billion, but Venezuela stopped making payments after US sanctions prevented it from selling oil. Chevron is the only major US corporation still operating in Venezuela.
Francisco Rodríguez, a Venezuelan economist at the University of Denver, told The Washington Post this week the White House’s claim that Venezuela had robbed US companies was “an odd argument”.
“You start paying me, then I – by force, by the imposition of sanctions – make it impossible for you to continue paying me, and then I accuse you of stealing something from me,” he said.
Trump said oil businesses will need to invest billions of dollars in Venezuela’s energy infrastructure but promised to reimburse them. He said the sector could be “up and running” in less than 18 months.
“I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money,” he said.
World divides
The removal of Maduro was condemned by China and Russia – countries that had backed his rule – but the response from regional countries largely depended on the political temperament of their leaders. Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, which have left-wing leaders, opposed the US attack, while right-wing leaders in Argentina, Ecuador and Chile supported it.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres described the removal of Maduro as a dangerous precedent, saying he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected”.
At a meeting of the UN Security Council this week, the US insisted it had not started a war and that its attack was a “surgical law enforcement operation” targeting drug criminals.
But most legal experts said the US action violated international law and amounted to an unjustified use of force, rather than a limited law enforcement operation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese avoided explicitly supporting or condemning the US attack, adopting a similar position to other Western leaders such as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We continue to support international law and a peaceful, democratic transition in Venezuela that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people,” Albanese said in a statement.
Donald Rothwell, an international law expert at the Australian National University, told The Australian Financial Review that the US operation was unlawful and “puts Australia on notice” about whether to back the US, its closest ally, if it undertakes future unlawful military actions in the region, such as in Taiwan or in the South China Sea.
Trump’s next targets
Following the capture of Maduro, a jubilant Trump declared that the operation reflected a “Donroe doctrine” – echoing the 1820s warning of US president James Monroe against European colonisation of the Americas, and indicating his determination to ensure US dominance of the Western hemisphere.
Trump’s comments prompted speculation that he may now consider military action against other nations, such as Greenland, Colombia or Cuba.
Asked about the prospects of an operation against Colombia, Trump told a reporter it “sounds good to me”. He also said Cuba was “ready to fall” and “we need Greenland”.
The move to depose Maduro and assert control over Venezuela marked a stark departure from Trump’s years of denunciations of US military adventurism and risked dividing his MAGA base. Analysts warned a prolonged intervention in Venezuela could hurt the Republicans at the midterm elections in November.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump backer who resigned from congress this week after falling out with him, wrote on X: “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong.”
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Monday found 33 per cent of Americans supported Maduro’s abduction, 34 per cent were opposed, and 32 per cent were unsure. The operation was supported by 65 per cent of Republicans, 23 per cent of independents and 11 per cent of Democrats.
This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on January 9, 2026 as "Trump’s Venezuela snatch and grab upends rule of law".
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