The United States conducted a large-scale military operation named Operation Absolute Resolve on Jan. 3. In the operation, the military successfully captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and brought him to the United States, where he will stand trial. President Donald Trump’s justification of the United States’ recent intervention in Venezuela is indefensibly unbacked by evidence.
While many Venezuelans have shown support for President Maduro’s removal, as seen in the celebrations around both the United States. and Venezuela, others have expressed concern for Venezuela’s future. Trump has accused Maduro of “emptying” Venezuelan prisons and sending criminals into the United States. These claims hold zero merit and have been fabricated by the president, according to the New York Times. The strike followed multiple attacks on Venezuelan ships that Trump had claimed were drug vessels. However, these vessels were never confirmed to be carrying drugs at the time of the strike.
Trump has two other reasons for intervening in Venezuela that he has not emphasized as publicly. First, Venezuela holds the world’s largest oil reserves, with over 300 billion barrels. The sale of Venezuelan oil began on Jan. 15, with CNN reporting that the United States government has sold $500 million worth of oil, with the funds being held in Qatar. The major problem is the Trump administration’s ability to transfer the money with little supervision or transparency.
Therefore, Trump administration officials could pocket millions of dollars of Venezuelan oil money for themselves. Venezuela owes billions of dollars to creditors and countries, and if the revenue from the oil sales. If this debt is not managed properly, there could be damaging effects on Venezuela’s economy.
In the wake of Maduro’s removal, Trump announced that the United States would “run” Venezuela for a while. Instead of focusing on the United States’ domestic problems, such as rising unemployment rates and inflation, Trump is starting a conquest of Venezuela and other foreign nations. In a recent Truth Social post, Trump is seen receiving the Nobel Peace Prize from Venezuelan Opposition Leader María Corina Machado. However, the Nobel Peace Prize released a statement stating that “once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others.”
Trump’s conquest of Venezuela has mainly been for personal gain and monetary gain. While the ousting of Maduro may be beneficial for the people of Venezuela, Trump acted out of selfishness and greed in looking to sell Venezuelan oil and pocket the money or steal it for the United States. In the past, presidents have ousted dictators and tyrannical governments through secret coups or more open, diplomatic means. However, Trump’s extremely public ousting of Maduro and his publicised actions have made it clear that Trump’s first priority is his own personal gain, not helping a nation that has been under a dictatorship for a decade.
