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The US-Venezuela Conflict

Published JAN 15·Updated 4 days ago

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Above: Venezuelan civilians and soldiers near the Military Complex of Fuerte Tiuna, targeted by U.S. airstrikes, on Jen. 3, 2025. Image credit: Boris Vergara/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

Nicolás Maduro's Chavista regime has long spread propaganda and disinformation, both domestically and internationally, to whitewash its crimes. While this narrative has appealed to some anti-establishment voices on the left, even prominent left-leaning leaders have condemned Maduro as a tyrant rather than a legitimate head of state. Under his rule, Venezuela's living conditions have collapsed, human rights have been systematically violated, and democratic institutions dismantled. With Maduro gone, it's the moral duty of the United States and all freedom-loving nations to help the opposition restore order, uphold the rule of law and defend human rights.

Caracas Chronicles Economist EL PAÍS English New York Post

Establishment-critical narrative

Driven by its interest in controlling the Venezuelan people's vast oil wealth, the United States has long imposed sanctions and conducted a campaign of hybrid warfare against the Bolivarian Republic. These efforts aim to destabilize the country, incite social unrest, and overthrow the democratically elected government of Maduro. While the U.S. chose to bully its South American neighbor and illegally kidnap their president, the Venezuelan people — with the exception of a U.S.-backed reactionary minority — remain read to defend their country and resist imperialist occupation.

EBB Peoples Dispatch Guardian teleSUR English Jacobin

Narrative C

What happened to Maduro was clearly a U.S.-backed palace coup. Given the lack of casualties, chaos and market instability, it's obvious that Trump came to some sort of deal with Venezuela's political elite to oust Maduro in favor of a more malleable Chavista.

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Narrative D

Though Trump clearly believes that the United States can simply go into Venezuela and "get the oil," the reality is far more opaque. Venezuela's crude is some of the dirtiest in the world, not to mention the fact that oil prices are falling. It would take a gargantuan amount of financial resources, cooperation, and guarantees of long-term stability for U.S. oil companies to effectively exploit Venezuela's oil resources.

Grist

Cynical narrative

The U.S.-Venezuela conflict is less about democracy and human rights than it is about power, oil and influence in the Western Hemisphere. Washington supports regime change when it serves its interests and condemns authoritarianism selectively, while Caracas blames every domestic failure on foreign plots to distract from internal dysfunction. Both governments have long used the conflict to consolidate support at home — one invoking freedom, the other sovereignty — while ordinary Venezuelans suffer under sanctions, mismanagement, and political theatrics. At its core, this is not a moral battle but a strategic stalemate dressed in ideological language.

The Washington Post Ideasforpeace