Uncertainty brews in the airs of Venezuela

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By: Alejandro Bocaranda

The world was awoken to a frenzy of questions, social media buzz, and surprise early this month as American forces took Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores from the South-American country. They were arrested on counts of narco-terrorism and racketeering from the US Department of Justice.

On Jan. 3, 2025, a task force of 200 US servicemembers enacted key military bombings and set about their captures. Maduro and the first lady were extradited to New York City, where they face a long indictment for their alleged crimes. During the offensive, there were 56 confirmed military casualties, 24 Venezuelan and 32 Cuban members of Maduro’s security detail. Later in the day, United States President Donald J. Trump explained the attacks at a Mar-O-Lago press conference.

“Last night and early today, at my direction, the United States armed forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. It was an operation against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicolás Maduro to justice,” said Trump.

Washington’s eyes have been set on Venezuela for quite some time. In his reelection campaign, the president garnered support due to his tough rhetoric against the ‘Tren de Aragua,’ a Venezuelan street gang partially operating in some US states. Moreover, the Department of Justice has moved to fit Maduro and his cabinet within a web of drug conspiracies, allegedly trafficking substances en masse to America. After the United States tripled its military presence in the Caribbean, tensions began to grow.

Maduro had tightly gripped onto power since 2013 when he was hand-picked as successor to Hugo Chavez. Since then, the Maduro government has brought the nation into deep turmoil. Economic collapse, rampant human rights abuses and two fraudulent elections in 2019 and 2024 have left daily life for Venezuelans difficult. Moreover, police crackdowns have left hundreds dead, thousands injured and uncountable arbitrarily arrested. The crisis has pushed one in four Venezuelans to flee their homeland, spawning the largest refugee crisis in the history of the Western hemisphere. The nation’s domestic issues prompted the Trump Administration to take military action against the state.

“He did a number of things as far as being dictatorial. There were deaths on his hands, the robbery of the country’s wealth and limiting the press. Things the international community condemned”

-Derek Sheets, an Advanced Placement (AP) social-studies educator at West Broward High School.

“He did a number of things as far as being dictatorial. There were deaths on his hands, the robbery of the country’s wealth and limiting the press. Things the international community condemned” said Derek Sheets, an Advanced Placement (AP) social-studies educator at West Broward High School.

Although celebrated by exiles globally, many international and domestic leaders have condemned the attacks over their legality With no intent of war having been declared, Senate Democrats and a handful of Republicans lead opposition in attempting to pass the war powers resolution, requiring further military intervention to be approved by congress. However, as of Jan. 14, the resolution was shut down by a large Republican faction in a 51-50 vote. Critics also point to a violent history of US interventions in the region and mounting evidence as proof these attacks may weaken Venezuelan sovereignty.

On Jan. 9, President Trump invited top oil executives to the White House after his Maduro ousting, promising investment safety. Concurrently, armed paramilitaries have paraded the streets of major cities as a tactic by Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice president, to grip the nation with fear. Venezuela is home to the world’s largest oil reserves and western petrol corporations, such as ExxonMobil and Shell, are eager to resume operations in the country after their exits with 1999’s Bolivarian Revolution. Oppositors are making the claim that the true American motivations behind this regime change are more akin to plutocracy than freedom.

“This is rank imperialism. It recalls the darkest chapters of U.S. interventions in Latin America, which have left a terrible legacy. It will and should be condemned by the democratic world” said Senator Bernie Sanders.