Fight against drugs or oil heist? The US is gathering powerful forces in Venezuela

The US has deployed a large military force near Venezuela and appears ready for war, according to CNN Espanol. Washington talks about fighting drug and migrant smuggling, and the regime in Caracas claims its goal is to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro and take control of rich oil deposits.

Director of the Institute of Strategy and Security at the University of Exeter, prof. Anthony King said in an interview with PAP that strengthening forces in the Caribbean region is an element of the new US national security strategy, which puts the main emphasis on the Western Hemisphere, designated as the US sphere of influence.

US troops massed in the Caribbean region are now the largest they have been in decades. There are over 15,000 people there. American soldiers, and in November the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest warship in the world, was sent to the regionand.

U.S. forces have carried out more than 20 attacks on suspected smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific Seas since September. The strikes killed at least 83 people, whom Washington calls “narco-terrorists.” President Donald Trump announced that he may soon also attack Venezuela.

The US administration does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela and accuses him of leading the Cartel de los Soles criminal group that smuggles drugs. It also offered a reward of $50 million for help in his capture. Maduro denies these accusations.

One of the priorities of President Donald Trump's security policy is to put an end to drug smuggling, especially cocaine and fentanyl, to the United States. However, anti-drug experts point out that Venezuela does not play a very important role in this practice, the BBC reported.

Venezuela's neighbor Colombia is the world's largest cocaine producer, but most reaches the U.S. via other routes, mainly the Pacific. However, fentanyl, linked to tens of thousands of deaths annually in the US, is produced mainly in Mexico and smuggled overland across the border of both countries.

Maduro took power in Venezuela in 2013 after the death of previous president Hugo Chavez. Under his rule, the country, with rich oil deposits, plunged into a catastrophic economic and humanitarian crisis. Almost 8 million people left, which intensified migration pressure, mainly on the surrounding South American countries, but also on the USA.

The fight against illegal immigration is another of the US president's policy priorities. Trump accused Maduro of “emptying his prisons and insane asylums” and sending their tenants to the US. He did not provide any evidence for this.

After the July 2024 elections, which were widely considered fraudulent, the regime in Caracas intensified the persecution of the opposition and brutally suppressed protests. Internationally, Maduro is an ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and has supported his aggression against Ukraine.

According to Reuters Trump held a phone call with Maduro in November and gave him seven days to flee the country with his family. After that deadline, he announced a “complete closure” of the airspace over Venezuelaas a result of which most airlines canceled international flights from Caracas.

The Maduro regime claims that the US goal is to forcefully remove it from power and take control of Venezuela's oil deposits. The US State Department denied that oil played a role in these activities.

Regardless of the motivation, in the event of a change of government in Venezuela, its deposits will be of fundamental importance for the country's future, and the possible opening of exports of Venezuelan raw materials would be beneficial to the US and its allies, CNN Espanol assessed.

Many people associate rich oil deposits with the countries of the Middle East, while Venezuela has the largest deposits of this raw material, accounting for approximately one fifth of the world's deposits. However, the country does not use this potential, producing only one million barrels per day, or about 0.8 percent. world production – the station reported.

The causes include international sanctions imposed on the Maduro regime, as well as the economic crisis, poor management and inadequate maintenance of facilities. Without sufficient investment, aging infrastructure has significantly reduced production capacity in recent years.

CNN Espanol emphasized that although the US produces the most oil in the world, it still has to import it. This is especially true for the type of oil found in Venezuela. While oil extracted in the USA is suitable for the production of gasoline, Venezuelan raw material is more suitable for a number of other applications, including the production of diesel oil, the station reported.

Increasing the US military presence in the Caribbean region is consistent with the priorities outlined in the new US security strategy. It announced the primacy of the USA in the Western Hemisphere and preventing rivals of this region from having the “ability to threaten” the country's security there. (PAP)

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