From Drug Boats To Oil Theft: Did Trump And Rubio Tell The Truth About Venezuela? | World News

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump claimed that the US military operation successfully captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores; Both were facing charges related to U.S. cocaine trafficking, according to recently unsealed indictments.

Speaking at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago on January 3, Trump said that “the United States will rule the country” for now. He added that this control would only last until a “safe, convenient and reasonable passage” was achieved in the oil-rich South American country.

Trump also announced that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president. He told reporters that he had spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and that he was “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

Rodríguez later appeared on Venezuelan state television, where he called the US military action “brutal aggression” and demanded Maduro’s immediate release, rejecting Trump’s version of the incident.

Maduro has ruled Venezuela since 2013, taking over from his ideological ally Hugo Chavez, who has ruled the country since 1999. Relations between Washington and Caracas deteriorated during the years when both leaders were in power. Disagreements over foreign policy, control of oil resources and human rights are at the heart of the growing conflict.

In July 2024, Maduro declared himself the winner of a presidential election that international observers described as fraudulent. Reports showed that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received nearly 70 percent of the vote.

Tensions between Trump and Maduro deepened further in September after the US government began hitting ships off the coast of Venezuela. These attacks, which killed more than 100 people, were described by the US president as efforts to stop drug trafficking operations.

Asked at the Mar-a-Lago event whether he had spoken to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado following Maduro’s arrest, Trump dismissed her influence, saying she “does not have support or respect within the country.”

Machado, who recently received the Nobel Peace Prize for his pro-democracy activism in Venezuela, recorded a 72 percent approval rating in a March 2025 poll by ClearPath Strategies.

Trump also claimed, without providing evidence, that U.S. involvement in Venezuelan governance “won’t cost us anything,” arguing that American oil companies would invest heavily in new infrastructure. “It will make a lot of money,” he said.

Were Trump and Rubio’s press conference claims about congressional oversight, drug trafficking, and Venezuela’s oil history really true? Let’s examine it.

Rubio defended the lack of advance notice to Congress, saying: “This is not the kind of mission where you can give advance notice because it compromises the mission.”

The administration confirmed that lawmakers were not informed before the operation, citing Trump’s fear of leaks.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, praised the move as “decisive action.” Democratic lawmakers, on the other hand, raised the alarm, arguing that Congress should be informed in advance.

“Maduro is terrible. But Trump put American soldiers at risk with this unauthorized attack,” said Virginia Senator Tim Kaine.

New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen said Trump and his cabinet have not been transparent about plans for regime change in Venezuela. He warned that MPs were not clear on how to manage the risks or pursue a long-term strategy for what he described as “an extraordinary escalation”.

According to the U.S. Constitution, Congress was last elected in World War II. It has the power to declare war, a step taken during World War II. Since then, presidents have launched military operations using their commander-in-chief authority, often without formal declarations of war.

The 1973 War Powers Resolution requires presidents to notify Congress within 48 hours of engaging U.S. forces in hostilities and end military action within 60 days unless lawmakers approve an extension. If the President indicates an emergency, an additional 30 days may be granted.

In recent years, congressional approval has often come through authorizations for the use of military force. No such authority exists for military operations in Venezuela.

Kaine and other lawmakers have sought to introduce legislation to block federal funding for any military action in or against Venezuela without permission from Congress.

The Trump administration has steadily reduced advance notification practices. Federal law requires advance notice to the eight senior bipartisan members of Congress for particularly sensitive undercover actions.

In June 2025, Republicans were informed about the planned US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, while Democrats were not. Regarding the Venezuela operation, available information indicates that no prior notice was given to any legislators.

Trump also claimed that every US boat that attacked the Venezuelan coast saved 25,000 lives. Since September, the administration has attacked at least 32 ships in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific, killing approximately 115 people.

The US president said the boats were carrying drugs destined for the US and told reporters that the drugs on each ship would kill “an average of 25,000 people”.

The reality is that Venezuela plays a limited role in supplying drugs to the US market. The administration did not release evidence detailing the type or amount of drugs allegedly found on the boats; This makes it impossible to calculate how many lethal doses were destroyed.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 73,000 Americans died of drug overdoses between May 2024 and April 2025. Trump claimed that drugs on 32 boats would lead to 800,000 potential deaths; that figure was nearly 11 times the annual number of overdoses in the United States.

Trump also said, “Maduro sent brutal and murderous gangs, including the bloodthirsty prison gang Tren de Aragua (TDA), to terrorize American communities across the country.” There is no evidence to support the claim that Maduro directed Tren de Aragua members to the United States.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment against Maduro does not mention such activity. An April report from the U.S. National Intelligence Council also disputed the claim, stating that although Venezuela’s environment allowed the TDA to operate, the Maduro government “probably does not have a policy of cooperating with the TDA and does not direct TDA movement and operations toward the United States.”

Trump also argued that Venezuela has “stolen” oil from the United States in the past. In the early 20th century, Venezuela’s long-time ruler, Juan Vicente Gomez, granted foreign companies broad access to the country’s oil reserves. In 1975, after years of political pressure, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry.

Francisco Rodríguez, a Venezuelan economist at the University of Denver, told the Washington Post that allegations that Venezuela is stealing US oil and territory lack any factual basis. He said Washington prioritized stable access to affordable Venezuelan oil rather than opposing nationalization, which he described at the time as “relatively uncontroversial.”

U.S. oil companies such as Exxon, Mobil and Gulf (now Chevron) each lost assets worth about $5 billion and received compensation of about $1 billion per person, according to reports by The Washington Post.

Rodríguez said the companies did not seek more compensation, in part because there was no legal authority to pursue such claims.

Invading a country to seize its oil violates international law and ethical norms. In 2016, Trump publicly stated that the United States should take Iraq’s oil after invading the country to eliminate Saddam Hussein.

Lawyers point to the 1907 Hague Convention, which states that private property must be respected during war, cannot be confiscated, and looting is expressly prohibited.

Terrorism analyst Daveed Gartenstein-Ross has previously explained that accepting the principle of “let the spoils go to the victors” would amount to legitimizing Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, an act widely condemned under the UN Charter.