Venezuela’s oil, not alleged drug trafficking, caught Trump’s eye

For weeks, United States President Donald Trump and his officials said the rhetoric and military posturing against Venezuela were aimed at countering the flow of narcotics.

But abundant evidence, including Trump’s own words in the aftermath of the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro, suggests that Washington’s true interest lies in Venezuela’s vast proven oil reserves – the largest in the world, estimated at about 303 billion barrels.
The US president initially framed Saturday’s attacks on Caracas as an anti-drug operation, with officials calling it an arrest of “two indicted fugitives” on narcotrafficking charges. Maduro was indicted in the Southern District of New York courts for alleged “narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy”, among other charges.

But within hours of the US attacks on Caracas that killed dozens of civilians, officials and military personnel, Trump pivoted to openly discussing oil and US control of Venezuela.

In a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the US president claimed the US would “run the country” for now, rebuild oil infrastructure, and “take out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground” to sell to global customers, including rivals China and Russia.

Maduro has consistently denied involvement in the drug trade and has accused Washington of using this charge as an excuse to get to oil and other resources, even as the Trump team labelled Venezuelan-trafficked fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction” and launched air strikes on boats accused of moving narcotic substances.
Oil vital to Venezuela’s recovery
The sudden abduction of the Venezuelan president has not yet translated to any major shift in the power structure of the South American nation.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has been ordered by the constitutional chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Court to serve as acting president “to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the nation” as a legal framework is devised for the future.

She had also been serving simultaneously as finance minister and oil minister, giving her enormous influence over the nation’s embattled economy and efforts to vitalise the underdeveloped oil sector that produces less than it should as a result of sanctions and mismanagement.

Trump said the US would not occupy Venezuela if Rodriguez “does what we want”. He also declined to endorse the opposition leader, exiled Nobel laureate Maria Corina Machado, saying she does not have the approval or “respect” of the people.