USA First drugs, now oil: what Trump has planned for Venezuela
It began with videos posted on the internet by the US government. The footage is said to show attacks by the US military on boats in the Caribbean that were allegedly smuggling drugs to the USA. The whole world was able to follow the attacks, in which dozens of people are said to have died, online - and it acted as a deterrent. US President Donald Trump declared war on drug trafficking at sea. Venezuela increasingly came under scrutiny. In the meantime, Trump is no longer accusing Venezuela of drug smuggling alone, it is also about something else: oil.
17.12.2025, 04:48
SDA
Why are the USA and Venezuela fighting in the first place?
The dispute has been boiling over for months. The USA does not recognize the authoritarian left-wing politician Nicolás Maduro as president of the South American country. The 2024 election was accompanied by accusations of fraud, nationwide protests and international criticism. Maduro presents himself as an indomitable rebel in the backyard of the United States, fearlessly standing up to the US government. He repeatedly rails against "imperialism" and paints a picture of Venezuela as a model socialist state. It was also against this backdrop that the USA turned its attention to drug smuggling.
What's the deal with drugs?
The USA has a major drug problem. They blame other countries for flooding the country with drugs. The US government has deployed military forces in the Caribbean, including the largest warship in the world - an aircraft carrier. There have been deadly attacks by the military on boats carrying people who are believed to have been smuggling drugs. Critics see the action as a violation of international law, while Trump's government speaks of a legitimate fight against "drug terrorists". It accuses President Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking. However, oil has also recently started to play a role.
What about the oil?
A few days ago, the USA confiscated an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Maduro accuses the USA of targeting this oil in particular as the conflict escalates and of wanting to force a change of power in Caracas. Trump said that Maduro's days as president were numbered. The US government and the FBI had justified the seizure on the grounds that the ship was part of an illegal oil transport network intended to support foreign terrorist organizations.
What has changed in Trump's rhetoric?
He has now linked the US military presence off the Venezuelan coast to the South American country's oil reserves. In a post on the Truth Social platform, the Republican wrote that Venezuela had stolen "oil, land and other assets" from the US and called for them to be returned "IMMEDIATELY". In the early 2000s, Venezuela nationalized oil fields, affecting both foreign and US companies. This was followed by a dispute over compensation.
The US president threatened that the South American country was surrounded by the largest fleet ever assembled in the history of South America. This would continue to grow - until the time of restitution.
The Venezuelan government condemned Trump's "grotesque threat" and described it as a serious violation of international law. In a statement, it said that Trump had once again revealed his true intentions of wanting to appropriate Venezuela's oil reserves.
What are the next steps for the USA?
Trump ordered a "TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS" entering or leaving Venezuela. Further ships in the region could be seized by the USA.
Trump described the regime in Venezuela as a "FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION" due to the alleged theft of US assets, among other things. The US President accused Maduro's government of financing itself with oil from "these stolen oil fields" and also accused the country of drug "terrorism", human trafficking, murder and kidnapping. The USA could use this classification to try to legally underpin operations.
How important is oil for Venezuela?
With an estimated 303 billion barrels (159 liters each), the country has the largest oil reserves in the world. These are mainly heavy oil, which can only be extracted and refined using special technology. Despite the enormous reserves, oil production is quite low at around one million barrels per day - 20 years ago, Venezuela was still producing almost three million barrels of oil per day. This is due to sanctions, but also mismanagement.
