In this photo posted by Donald Trump on his social network, CIA director John Ratcliffe, the US president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio watch a live broadcast of the operation to abduct Nicolas Maduro, at the Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, January 3, 2026. COMPTE TRUTH SOCIAL DE DONALD TRUMP VIA AFP
The abduction of Nicolas Maduro was only a prelude to a broader takeover of Venezuela by the US. That was the takeaway from Donald Trump's press conference in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, January 3, held just hours after the US special forces' raid in Caracas that resulted in the kidnapping of the Venezuelan president and his wife, who stand accused of drug trafficking.
"We are going to run the country until such time such as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," said the American president. While the official justification for the intervention was the fight against narcoterrorism, Trump made no secret that the main objective was access to Venezuela's oil resources, the largest in the world.
The assault was the culmination of several months of rising tensions, with airstrikes targeting Venezuelan ships accused of transporting drugs to the US. The American military had been deployed in the Caribbean Sea to support these operations. Will the Trump administration's plan to "run" Venezuela require the deployment of troops on the ground, which would amount to an invasion and a declaration of war? Or will the White House intend to control a foreign country from afar, relying mainly on the threat of a second intervention? This crucial point has been left unspecified, and the Republican president has maintained ambiguity.
