America just took over Venezuela, trump says the U.s will now run the country.

The U.S. just invaded Venezuela, bombed its capital, and seized its president — and they’re pretending this is normal. In the early hours of January 3, 2026, the United States launched coordinated military strikes across Venezuela, including in Caracas and surrounding regions. President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were reportedly captured and flown out of the country by U.S. forces, according to President Trump. This wasn’t a “limited action” or some kind of border enforcement — this was a military invasion. Explosions were heard throughout the Venezuelan capital and at key military installations. Smoke was seen rising from air bases and strategic sites. Venezuela’s government immediately declared a state of emergency and condemned the attacks as “military aggression” that strikes at the very heart of its sovereignty. Trump’s own announcement on social media claimed the United States had “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader,” with details to come at a later press conference. The operation was described as involving elite U.S. forces — including Delta Force — signaling this was not a quick raid on a criminal lab or a synchronized DOJ action, but a planned military assault. Let’s strip away the euphemisms: this is invasion, not enforcement. There was no imminent threat to American soil that justified the use of force under international law. The U.N. Charter’s Article 2(4) clearly forbids the use of force against another state’s territorial integrity or political independence unless it’s self-defense or authorized by the Security Council. There’s no evidence either condition applied here — and global reactions reflect the shock and outrage. The administration’s own allies in Congress are already questioning the constitutional basis for this war and pointing out that they were lied to about regime change not being the agenda. Make no mistake: the narrative that this was about “drug trafficking” or “narco-terrorism” was always a pretext. Trump’s government had been building up military presence in the Caribbean for months under what’s been called Operation Southern Spear, deploying aircraft carriers, troops, and designating Venezuelan institutions and gang networks as terrorist entities — a setup that conveniently paves the way for overt military intervention. Venezuela sits on some of the largest proven oil reserves in the world, and its economic and geopolitical position has long made it a target of U.S. political and economic pressure. This isn’t a secret — it’s been openly debated and speculated on by Venezuelan officials who say the U.S. wants control of their resources under the guise of law enforcement and “democracy promotion.” Now the gloves are off. A sitting president has been removed by force. A foreign government has been targeted without international sanction. A region already weary of U.S. intervention is watching this unfold with justified fear. This isn’t a “surgical strike,” it’s a regime change operation that tramples on international law, sets a dangerous precedent, and undermines every multilateral institution that’s supposed to prevent exactly this kind of brazen imperialism. We should not — we cannot — sit silent while the U.S. rewrites the rules of global engagement by bombing, kidnapping, and exporting its political will. Sovereignty, justice, and international norms matter — and it’s time we demand accountability for a foreign policy that just crossed every line in the book.

Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves in 2024, accounting for around one fifth of global supply, according to data from OPEC. The country is estimated to have 303 billion barrels of proven reserves. The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that Venezuela’s oil was stolen from US, referring to the nationalisation of Venezuelan petroleum industry in 1976.