After abducting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros, the US has threatened Interim President of the Latin American country Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, with President Donald John Trump saying that “if she does not do what is right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.” The US President claimed that he would do everything possible for the good of Venezuela, stressing: “Rebuilding is not a bad thing in Venezuela’s case. The country has gone to hell. It is a failed country. It is a totally failed country. It is a country that is a disaster in every way. We have to MAKE VENEZUELA GREAT AGAIN.”

Yet again, Trump has alleged that President Maduro himself is the head of the Venezuelan criminal syndicate. According to the US President, the abducted Venezuelan President has been brought to the US and imprisoned for committing that very crime. Now, Trump’s interest is focussed mainly on the natural resources of Venezuela. He has made it clear that the US must be given complete access to intervene in internal affairs of the South American country. Speaking at a press conference on January 6, 2026, Trump stated: “We need to obtain all the information about oil and other resources. Once we have that, we will be able to rebuild the country (Venezuela).“

Venezuela currently holds 161 metric tonnes of gold reserves. It makes Venezuela the Latin American country with the largest gold holdings. Every USD 100 that gold rises, these holdings gain +USD 518 million of value. Also, the Venezuelan Government estimates indicate that the Orinoco Mining Arc (officially the Orinoco Mining Arc National Strategic Development Zone) holds between 7,000 to 10,000 tonnes of gold and other minerals, with a potential value estimated by some sources to be in the hundreds of billions to trillions of US Dollars. Political analysts are of the opinion that the US has its eyes not only on the vast mineral wealth of Venezuela, but also on its huge gold reserves. They believe that the US attack on Venezuela relies on the same deception that justified the war in Iraq: the idea of self-financing wars with oil. At the same time, analysts have warned that if Washington DC governs Venezuela by force, it will repeat the failures of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. And, if the US faces no consequences for the invasion of Venezuela, it could embolden other countries to carry out similar operations that may contravene international law.

President Trump has already reaffirmed that Venezuela may not be the last country subject to US intervention, stressing: “We do need Greenland, absolutely.” He has described the island nation, a part of Denmark (a NATO ally), as “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships”. Previously, the US President’s longtime threats to seize Denmark’s territory of Greenland were widely derided in Europe as outlandish talk that could surely never translate into the US effectively invading a NATO ally. However, his ability to capture Maduro has raised worries in Europe. Britain and Germany have announced that they would never allow the US to invade Greenland.

Meanwhile, Delcy Rodríguez, the Interim President of Venezuela, has announced that her country is determined to protect its natural resources. She urged the parties in Opposition to remain united on President Maduro’s proposed policies. Rodríguez declared that Venezuela “is ready to defend our natural resources”, stating that the defence counsel (of Venezuela) remained prepared to carry out the policies of President Maduro, whose return she demanded. “We shall never be a colony ever again,” said the Interim President. Later, she wrote on X: “We invite the US Government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.”

Interestingly, the capture of Maduro by the US tests the limits of China’s diplomatic push. During his meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on January 5, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed serious concern over the current global instability. He reportedly said that unilateral dominance is damaging the international order. Although President Xi did not mention the US, it is believed that he indirectly sent a message to President Trump.

President Xi further said: “The world today is undergoing changes and turbulence not seen in a century, with unilateral acts of hegemony and bullying severely undermining the international order. All countries should respect the development paths chosen by the peoples of other nations, abide by international law, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; and major powers, in particular, should take the lead in doing so.” He described China as a supporter of multilateralism, urging other countries to “jointly uphold the authority of the UN and promote the development of the global governance system in a more just and reasonable direction”.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das