In the great power competition of the 21st century, President Donald Trump of the United States emerges as a man with enormous energy ambitions with the aim of seeking hegemony. In this strategic calculus of hyper transactionalism, the latest pawn that Trump has targeted is the Caribbean nation of Venezuela, the country with richest oil repository on the geopolitical landscape. However, the strategic veil that President Trump uses to cover up the energy ambitions is the “war on drugs”. He has repeatedly claimed that the South American nation Venezuela is a hub of narcotics and President Nicolas Maduro is a “drug dictator”.
This Narco-business in Caracas has a spill-over effect on the United States, where the country is flooded with narcotics and smugglers. Thus Washington DC has launched an attack on the Pacific country, says Trump. However, the real reasons beneath speak more about energy ambitions, hegemonic aspirations and urge to control and command the Pacific and Atlantic paradigm than about the war on drugs. Apparently, the United States has not just launched intense strikes on Venezuela but also has captured its President Nicolas Maduro. This is thus deemed by analysts as a clear breach of sovereignty of the Caracas by the United States and a monumental shift in the geopolitical chessbaord.
Unfolding of the escalation by the United States
On the early hours of January 3, Saturday, around 2AM, at least 7 explosions and low-lying aircrafts were heard in Caracas(Capital of Venezuela). Massive smoke was witnessed evoking from a military base in the Caracas. Another military installation was also destroyed. La Carlota and Fuerte Tiuna were the pivotal military bases in the epicentre of the city that was targeted by the United States. People in the neighbourhood panicked at the sudden explosions and rushed to the streets. “The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes. We felt like the air was hitting us”, described one of the eye witnesses.
President Maduro declares state emergency
Following the massive military strikes, President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro declared a state emergency. The Caracas government exclaimed the escalation as an “extremely serious military aggression”, by the United States. “Venezuela rejects, repudiates and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and people”, asserted the Venezuelan government. President Nicolas Maduro and the government of Venezuela also called for the “mobilisation” of the population against “peacemaker” Trump’s “imperial aggression”.
Meanwhile, Venezuela has also called out the attacks by the United States as a “criminal and terrorist attack”, which has targeted the people and the critical infrastructure. Immediately after the military strikes by the US, Venezuela urged the United States Security Council to convene a meeting to make the United States accountable.
Trump confirms strike and capture of the President Maduro and his wife
Hours after Venezuela declared a state emergency and held the United States accountable for the strikes, US President Donald Trump acknowledged the escalation of military strikes on Venezuela by the US contingent. He also confirmed the capture of the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Taking to his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement”.
Meanwhile, US Secretary State of State, Marco Rubio exclaimed that “Maduro is not the President of Venezuela and his regime is not the legitimate government. Maduro is the head of the Cartel De Los Soles, a narco-terror organisation which has taken possession of a country. And he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States”. Also, a viral photo from the United States shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro being arrested by the US special forces. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York for espousing narco-terror, infiltrating drugs and smugglers into the US through illegal boats. He is also accused by the US for possessing machine guns and other destructive devices with an intention to target Washington DC. “They will face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts”, Attorney General Pam Bondi further reiterated.
Trump actions targeting the Caribbean country
Donald Trump is relentlessly cracking down on Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro since his preceeding term. However, in the second term the target is more sharp and stupendous. President Trump has expounded that the drug cartels of Venezuela are a threat to the US national security. He has labelled Maduro as a “narco-dictator”. The US had in fact announced a reward of USD 50 million, if people aid the information leading upto the arrest of Nicolas Maduro. Trump had also accused Caracas for infiltrating drug dealers, smugglers, notorious prisoners and unstable people from the mental health facilities and thousands of other illegal immigrants into the United States.
Trump has accused that nearly 8 million have fled Venezuela and have entered the US since a deacde and more. Maduro has “emptied the prisons and insane asylums in the country” and has funneled them into the United States, Trump alleges. These accusations of Trump reached an alarming height in his second presidency and the President even imposed economic sanctions on Venezuela. The US had also targeted dozens of alleged drug boats from Venezuela leading to the death of hundreds of people. The American warships were deployed in the vicinity of the Caribbean country to strike down the drug boats.
Currently, more than 15,000 US troops have been deployed in the vicinity of Venezuela, which is the largest military presence of the US in the Caribbean in the latest decades. In December 2025, President Trump designated Venezuela as a foreign terrorist organisation and blocked all the US sanctioned oil tankers from entering Caracas. Venezuela is just 2,000kms away from the coast of Florida in the United States.
The real agenda of Trump to confiscate the energy in the Atlantic region
The hidden hegemonic agenda is beyond the stated “war on drugs”, by the Trump administration. Geopolitical experts claim that by weakening the leadership and administration of Venezuela, by fomenting anarchy in the Caribbean nation, President Trump is aiming to accelerate control over the rich oil and energy repository of the South American country. Thereby, the aim is to engulf the entire Pacific and Atlantic region and its vast energy resources. Venezuela houses the world’s largest proven reserves of oil and is the world’s largest producer of oil, accounting for 17 per cent of the global reserves, which is larger than Saudi Arabia.
Thus, under the shield of war on narcotics and defending American national security, the US has targeted the resource rich nation by breaching its sovereignty, says strategic analysts. The attack is not spontaneous, but a well calculated and choreographed move by Washington DC, that was fermenting for a long time to fulfill the hegemonic and energy ambitions by extending the American sphere of influence across the Pacific and the Atlantic. The military strikes are embedded in President Trump’s ambition to be a leading producer and exporter of oil and critical minerals. The aim is also to cut the increasing bonhomie of Venezuela with Iran and China thus thwarting the influence of Beijing in the oil reserves of the country. Venezuela is thus deemed as a strategic bed to nourish these hegemonic goals of the USA in the contemporary great power politics, earmarked with energy ramifications of President Trump.
