On January 3, the US military carried out a series of attacks in northern Venezuela, including the capital, Caracas, and extrajudicially captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The military operation, which is estimated to have caused at least 80 deaths, marks a dramatic escalation of tensions between both nations. In recent months, Washington had expanded its presence in the Caribbean. President Maduro and his wife were flown to New York, where the Venezuelan president faces four criminal charges: narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Although US President Donald Trump has long maintained that his country’s offensive against Venezuela is part of a campaign against drug trafficking, he has since been unequivocal in stating that the country’s large oil reserves were a major factor in President Maduro’s ouster.
Venezuela has the largest crude oil reserves in the world: more than 300 billion barrels, or almost a fifth of the world’s proven reserves. Despite this, Venezuela’s oil production is relatively low and has experienced a sharp decline in the last decade. This is due in part to the deterioration of the country’s oil infrastructure, which has suffered from a lack of investment, but also to the sanctions imposed by the United States since January 2019 during the Venezuelan presidential crisis. Today, Venezuela produces less than a million barrels of oil a day; By comparison, the United States produces more than 20 million barrels per day and Saudi Arabia just under 11 million. Venezuela exports most of its oil production to China.