The President of the United States, Donald Trump, ordered a bombing of the capital city of Venezuela on Jan. 3. This operation was codenamed “Operation Absolute Resolve” and resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores by U.S. troops. Maduro and Flores were transported back to New York City to face trial. Counts placed against these Venezuelan leaders amount to several charges of narcoterrorism. They both pleaded not guilty on Jan. 5.
Meanwhile, vice president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, claims the action to be nothing short of kidnapping and abduction. Officials claim 23 security officers were killed in the strike, and the Cuban government says 32 military and intelligence agency members died as well. As the United States is within the United Nations (UN), many U.S. allies believe that such an attack violated Venezuela’s sovereignty as well as the UN Charter, which dictates all of its members strive to keep international peace in the wake of World War II.
Despite that, Trump has made clear that these acts are done in the name of the oil industry. On Jan. 20, the U.S. made known a 50 million barrel oil supply deal, created with the rest of the government of Venezuela that still remained. Since then, both the United States and Venezuela have made moves to support the oil trade through rights given to independent businesses and lifted sanctions.
However, no matter what the intentions were, many believe this should be equivalent to an act of war. Before the bombing, people assumed, as Trump said, that all of this was based solely upon the worries about drug cartels and trade entering the United States from Venezuela. Once again, estimates conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) have concluded Venezuela plays no role in the fentanyl trade, and only a small one in cocaine. The drug influx from Venezuela is a small issue. The oil is a larger curiosity.
After the bombing of Venezuela and the capture of Maduro and his wife, we remain uncertain how this will continue to play out. Maduro and Flores were charged with narcoterrorism, and the United States signed a deal with Rodriguez for several million barrels of oil. Perhaps these are non sequiturs, and perhaps they have a reason. Regardless, military action in Venezuela has actively ceased, and the hope of peace seems like a closer possibility.
