“We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest the greatest”, is what Trump said, as his reasoning for using military force in Venezuela. Last weekend, the USA attacked Venezuela through a series of Air strikes, where at least forty people were killed, and then captured the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro. The USA’s argument for this attack was that they would be able to protect their people from drugs flowing in from Venezuela. Although Trump was adamant that Maduro was behind the flooding of drugs in the USA, Maduro, has persistently denied any allegations of being a cartel leader and blamed Trump for using this as an excuse to have access to the vast oil reserves which Venezuela has.

Oil was the main source of revenue for Venezuela when Maduro was in government, and it has the largest oil reserve in the world, making it a large exporter. Now, following the political situation in Venezuela, the future of oil exporting from Venezuela is uncertain, and investors are trying to assess what will happen next. Trump has publicly stated that he will “run the country in such times”, through helping enhance the oil sector, which could take a few months. After the unraveling of these events, many countries have spoken about their stance on the action of the USA in Venezuela. Many Latin American countries such as Brazil, Colombia and Cuba, have denounced Trump’s actions in Venezuela saying that these acts affront the sovereignty of Venezuela.

Other nations such as Russia and China, both permanent members of the security council in the United Nations, also condemned the USA’s actions, also calling for the release of Maduro. Without a leader, this Latin American nation faces immense instability legally and politically, whilst also creating societal uncertainty for what will happen next regarding Venezuela’s governance.

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