The U.S. Intervention in Venezuela: Geopolitics, Resources, and a New Cold War

Recent military actions by the United States against Venezuela, including strikes on military and civilian infrastructure in the capital Caracas and other key sites, have escalated a long-simmering conflict to a new level. The capture of President Nicolás Maduro marks a dramatic turn, raising urgent questions about Washington’s true objectives. The situation is further complicated by the role of Venezuela’s far-right opposition leader, María Corina Machado. In a stark contradiction, Machado—a recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize—has openly endorsed the U.S. offensive against her homeland, using her platform to advocate for foreign intervention.

This paradox forces us to ask: Why is the United States engaged in a de facto war with Venezuela? The reasons are multifaceted, rooted in a blend of raw geopolitics, economic ambition, and ideological crusading.

The broadest U.S. objective is the forceful reimposition of American hegemony in Latin America, reviving the 19th-century colonial premise of the Monroe Doctrine. This modern iteration, often called the “Trump Corollary” or “Don Roe Doctrine” within policy circles, explicitly declares the Western Hemisphere as an exclusive U.S. sphere of influence, free from rival powers.

Venezuela possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves, alongside vast deposits of natural gas, gold, and critical minerals like rare earth elements. Since the 2007 nationalization of the oil industry by former President Hugo Chávez, U.S. corporations have been locked out. The current campaign seeks to reverse this, privatize these assets, and create a U.S.-controlled supply chain. This is crucial for Washington’s strategy to cut China out of vital resource networks and fuel its own military-industrial complex.

Venezuela has been a pivotal leader in fostering regional integration through organizations like ALBA and CELAC, and in building alliances across the Global South with China, Russia, Iran, and African nations. It has been a vocal supporter of Palestine and revolutionary states in Africa’s Sahel region, such as Burkina Faso and Mali. The U.S. aims to shatter this independent bloc, overthrowing Venezuela to create a domino effect that could destabilize left-wing governments in Cuba and Nicaragua.

A crucial architect of this policy is Marco Rubio, who uniquely holds the dual roles of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Hailing from the anti-communist Cuban exile community in Miami, Rubio has dedicated his career to overthrowing Latin America’s leftist governments. For him, a successful regime change in Venezuela is a geopolitical prize and a potential stepping stone to the U.S. presidency, promising to topple the governments in Havana and Managua next.

Let us be clear: This conflict is a blatant war of aggression that violates international law. Justifications citing drugs, human rights, or democracy are propaganda smokescreens. The true aim is imperial dominance and resource extraction, as openly admitted in policy documents like the 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy. This document states the intent to “own or control strategically vital assets in our hemisphere” and eliminate “non-hemispheric competitors”—a clear reference to China.

The U.S.-backed political alternative confirms this economic motive. In an interview with Donald Trump Jr., opposition figure María Corina Machado outlined a radical plan for Venezuela’s future, promising a “$1.7 trillion opportunity” for foreign investors. She vowed to privatize the entire oil, gas, and mining sectors, open the country’s coastline for tourism development, and transfer massive public assets into private hands. Her vision is not of rebuilding a nation, but of its wholesale liquidation to international capital—a stark betrayal from a Nobel Peace laureate.

In essence, the U.S. war on Venezuela is the opening salvo in a larger campaign to transform the entire Western Hemisphere—from the Arctic tip of Greenland to the southern coast of Argentina—into a locked-in U.S. imperial domain. It seeks obedient puppet regimes that will sever ties with U.S. rivals, privatize national resources for American corporations, and serve as loyal allies in a new Cold War. The bombardment of Venezuela is not an isolated event, but a declaration of intent for the control of a continent.