JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump celebrated the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces. There are allegations that the Uncle Sam's country wants to control Venezuelan oil.
For months, Trump has continued to pressure Maduro to relinquish power and leave Venezuela. The US and a number of countries consider Maduro to have manipulated the general election to remain in power since 2013.
In addition, Trump and his officials also said that the military deployment against Venezuela was aimed at fighting the flow of narcotics. The US side accused Maduro of protecting the drug trafficking cartel. But according to many evidences, including Trump's own words after Maduro's arrest, it actually shows that Washington's real interest is Venezuela's proven oil reserves.
The arrest of the Venezuelan president has not yet had a major impact on the structure of power in the South American country.
Vice President Delcy Rordriguez was ordered to take power. The circle of the most powerful people is currently still held by people close to Maduro, including House of Representatives Chairman Jorge Rodriguez as well as Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.
While opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez, who is suspected of winning the 2019 election or Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corino Machado, has little chance of leading Venezuela.
Citing Al Jazeera, Venezuela's oil reserves are the largest in the world, estimated at around 303 billion barrels.
Trump's ambitionUS pressure on the Maduro government over the past months reached its peak on Saturday (3/1/2026) when they launched an attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. In addition to Caracas, attacks also occurred in Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira States.
The US president initially described last weekend's raid as an anti-narcotics operation, while officials called it the arrest of "two fugitives charged" with drug trafficking.
President Maduro was indicted in the Southern District Court of New York for alleged drug terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy, among other charges.
But hours after the attack in Caracas, which left dozens of civilians, officials, and military personnel dead, Trump instead openly discussed oil and US control over Venezuela. In a press conference at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Trump claimed the US would "run the country" for now, rebuilding the oil infrastructure, and "take a huge amount of wealth from the ground to sell to global customers, including rivals China and Russia.
Maduro himself has consistently denied involvement in the drug trade and accused Washington of using these accusations as an excuse to obtain oil and other resources, even as Trump seized smuggled fentanyl from Venezuela as a "weapon of mass destruction" and launched airstrikes on ships accused of transporting narcotics.
The Venezuelan government immediately declared a national state of emergency. Venezuela accused the US of attacking the country's oil and minerals.
Vital Oil to Restore VenezuelaCiting The Globe and Mail, Venezuela, which has the world's largest oil reserves, has "stolen" US assets almost two decades ago after US oil companies developed oil fields in the country. After the US attack on Venezuela, they took over again and revived the industry.
"If you remember, they took all of our energy rights, they took all of our oil not long ago. And we want it back," Trump said in December last year.
Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves, which amount to 303 billion barrels. But the amount of oil produced by Venezuela today is very small.
Venezuelan oil production has fallen sharply since the early 2000s, as former President Hugo Chavez and then the Maduro government tightened control over the state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), which caused many experienced staff to leave. Several Western oil companies, including US Chevron, are still active in Venezuela, but their operations have shrunk significantly as the US expands sanctions against the country.
One of the sanctions is aimed at oil exports, to limit Nicolas Maduro's economic access. US sanctions targeting Venezuelan oil have been a core element of US policy towards Venezuela since 2017, mainly since under the joint direction of the Trump era.
Venezuela's average monthly exports were only around 950,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November 2025, and the US oil embargo reduced the figure to around 500,000 bpd last month. By comparison, other oil exporters, such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, export an average of millions of barrels per day.
Francisco Rodriguez, former chief economic adviser to the Venezuelan National Assembly, said the gold and oil reserves are one of the country's main hopes for economic recovery.
"If the US moves to lift sanctions and remove obstacles for investors to return, oil production could reach 2.5 million barrels per day within three to five years," Rodriguez told AlJazeera.
"I think what the Trump administration is saying is that we prioritize the recovery of the oil sector and put the economy on a controlled basis so that we can think about a more orderly political transition," the former official said.
"But if you try to immediately hand over power to the opposition now without first establishing the basis for economic recovery, it is actually very dangerous and causes chaos," he said.
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