Tensions between the United States and Venezuela recently escalated on Jan. 3 when the U.S. government forcibly removed President Nicolas Maduro from office. According to Al Jazeera, the Trump Administration issued an attack in operation “Absolute Resolve” on Jan. 3 to prosecute Maduro under drug trafficking violations in the U.S.
This conflict marked an escalation in the strained relationship between the two countries, which began shortly after Maduro’s 2013 election. The second Obama administration issued an executive order in 2015 declaring a national emergency because of civil rights concerns.
According to Time News, at roughly 2 a.m., U.S. air strikes struck Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Special forces extracted Maduro and his wife from their mansion and flew back to the U.S. around 3:29 a.m. While the estimates on casualties vary, an article from AP News stated that 24 Venezuelan officials were killed, along with 32 Cuban military and police officers who were working to protect Maduro. AP News reported that more civilians were killed; however, the exact numbers aren’t clear.
During a family vacation on an island off the coast of Venezuela, freshman Owen Metz said he witnessed the attacks firsthand. Metz said finding out what he assumed were fireworks were actually missiles created a feeling of shock and uncertainty.
“At midnight or so, we could hear fireworks going off, but then I couldn’t fall back asleep after that. So somewhere around two in the morning, I heard a loud boom, and I looked out my window, and I could just see a flash,” Metz said.
After the strikes, Metz and his family were among the many visitors whose flights were delayed. Metz said his family was stuck for an extra couple of days, leading to increased stress and tension. He said his family stayed packed for several days, staying ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
Following the attacks in Caracas, Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores have been charged with weapon and drug smuggling in New York and are currently being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center.
According to a Jan. 3 Reuters article by Andrew Cawthorne, Raphael Satter and Tim Reid, President Donald Trump publicly said he would run Venezuela. However, the BBC reports that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez is serving as interim president. “We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, via Reuters. “We can’t take a chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn’t have the interests of Venezuelans in mind.”
Furthermore, the Reuters article said that some critics believe Trump’s focus on Venezuela’s natural resources, such as oil reserves, raises questions about the administration’s integrity.
In an article published on Jan. 14 by CBS News journalists Kathryn Watson and Sara Cook, an anonymous administration official said the U.S. completed the first sale of Venezuelan oil through a partnership with U.S. companies. The unnamed official said the sale was valued at $500 million.
Moreover, according to CBS News, after a meeting with oil executives, the White House has introduced a plan to sell Venezuela’s oil, splitting the proceeds between U.S.-based companies, the U.S. government and Venezuelans.
Additionally, in an article published in Al Jazeera, Richard Falk, an American Professor of international law, claims that the United States’ attack on the Venezuelan capital is a violation of the UN Charter, Article 2(4), because of the unprovoked nature of the strikes.
“The United States attack on Venezuela on Jan. 3 should be understood not simply as an unlawful use of force, but as part of a broader shift towards nihilistic geopolitics in which international law is openly subordinated to imperial management of global security,” Falk said in an opinion piece published in Al Jazeera. Roughly one-third of American adults approve of the actions taken in Venezuela, according to a poll by Reuters/Ipsos. A BBC article stated that Venezuelans reacted to the removal of Maduro with cautious hope and continued fear.
