On January 3, 2026, the US military arrested Nicolas Maduro, the then Venezuelan President, in an operation in Caracas. President Donald Trump named it ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’, in which 150 jet aircraft and a special unit of the CIA took part.
Maduro and his wife were presented in a New York court on narco-terrorism charges, where they cried American ‘aggression’. Soon after this incident, Trump announced that the US was going to get 30-50 million barrels of high quality oil from Venezuela, which would be sold at market price. This oil will come from the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves, which was earlier sold mostly to Russia-China due to US sanctions.
Trump posted on Truth Social, “I am pleased to announce that the interim authorities of Venezuela will deliver 30 to 50 million barrels of high quality oil to the United States. This oil will be sold at market price, and as President of the United States, I will control that money to ensure that it is used for the benefit of the Venezuelan people and the American people! I have called on Energy Secretary Chris Wright to immediately implement this plan. Said. It will be transported by storage ships, and brought directly to the unloading docks in America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Let us tell you that if the current crude oil price is $56.20 per barrel, then it is a deal of $2.8 billion. The US previously seized a tanker in December 2025, which contained 1 million barrels, but this new transfer is historic. Venezuela has 300 billion barrels of reserves, more than Saudi Arabia, but heavy oil makes extraction expensive. Trump’s ‘oil game’ is now shaking up the global energy market, where the US now becomes both producer and controller.
Russia and China termed it ‘imperialist aggression’. “This is a violation of international law,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Russia calls emergency UN meeting, and threatens sanctions. Iran issued a warning to cut off oil supplies, while 40 Cuban soldiers were killed in the attack. Both countries asked their citizens to return from Venezuela and increased naval deployments. This looks like Cold War 2.0, where oil resources can become a weapon of geopolitics.
The world has clearly been divided into two factions: