American tensions with Venezuela culminated in a night-raid on the country’s capital city, Caracas, and the successful capture of Venezuela’s former president, Nicolás Maduro. The raid took place on Jan. 3, 2026, at around 2 a.m.. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been taken into custody in New York City at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. With the two held on charges of narco-terrorism, the future of Venezuela is uncertain, but here is what preceded this eventful moment:
Maduro got his start working under Hugo Chavez as Vice President in 1999. Hugo Chavez would serve as the first domino to fall, as his rise to power would set the tensions between America and Venezuela into motion.
Before Chavez was elected president, Venezuela and America were close economically, as US oil companies invested heavily into the nation. Oil in Venezuela was found and largely developed upon in the early 1920s. The two leading companies in this were ExxonMobil, an American Company, and Shell, a British and Dutch company. In return for the production of oil, the companies would pay taxes and royalties to the Venezuelan government. The contract established would hold this relationship until 1983.
In the mid-1970s, though, Venezuela would decide to nationalize their oil and take control over oil drilling themselves. The companies involved in the contract would be compensated for the premature expiration. At the time, this break-up was not considered controversial.
The early 1990s see a new relationship established. In addition to Venezuela having its own national oil company, foreign companies like Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips would be invited to invest and join the Orinoco Belt, which is an area in Venezuela with large amounts of oil.
This invitation and rise in goodwill would be snuffed out with the election of Hugo Chavez, and his claim to power in 1999. Chavez, a far-left power elected amidst economic stagnation in Venezuela, would deteriorate ties with America, and begin to more closely align with Russia, China and Iran.
The early 2000s saw Chavez nationalizing Venezuela’s oil, coming to the foreign companies and demanding changes in the contracts that increased the royalties on the companies for their oil production. Chavez demanded higher profits for Venezuela from American companies producing off their oil.
Most of the companies refused this change and were kicked out of Venezuela, aside from Chevron. Chevron remained the only licensed American company to operate in Venezuela. Despite the changes in the contract, however, Chevron would continue to make money off the deal.
Chavez re-nationalized Venezuela’s oil, establishing stronger ties with American adversaries, and further perpetuated tensions between both nations. Following his death in 2013, Nicolás Maduro, Chavez’s vice president, narrowly won the presidency and brought with him a depression in the economy, a rise in corruption and increased tensions with the U.S.
Venezuela fell into hyperinflation amid sanctions imposed by the United States against the country. 2014-2015 saw the first major sanctions, leading to food and medicine shortages, a rise in inflation and migration out of the country.
The financial crisis was only made worse in 2017-2019, where the United States would continue to impose sanctions, banning the purchase of Venezuelan debt and adding fuel to the flames as Venezuela’s economy collapsed, peaking at 345% in 2019.
Maduro continued to secure his power come 2018, holding a controversial election where opposition candidates were barred from running. The results of the election spurred the United States to impose further sanctions, as Venezuela itself experienced boycotts from opposition within the country.
Come 2024, Maduro again won the election against opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez and Mária Machado. Tallies from several booths showed Gonzalez winning comfortably, but the election was ruled in Maduro’s favor instead. Countries like the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Columbia would question the results and demand for recounts.
Jan. 20, 2025, saw Trump inaugurated and establishing several executive orders against immigration, naming groups like Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan Street gang, as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
From Sept. 2 to Jan. 1, 2025, the Trump Administration reported on 35 total strikes against alleged drug-carrying boats off the coast of Venezuela, though evidence for these claims has not been provided. Trump would order a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” going in and out of Venezuela on Dec. 16.
Trump alleged that Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking, terrorism and other crimes as his reasoning for the blockade and would pledge to continue building tensions until Venezuela returned oil, land and assets to the U.S. that Trump claims the country owns and is owed.
On Jan. 3, 2026, the United States conducted a “large-scale strike,” bombing the city of Caracas and capturing Maduro and his wife in the process. Both individuals are currently held in New York City’s Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. They have pleaded not guilty to various charges and will see trial likely around March.
