WASHINGTON, Jan 4, 2026, 12:38 ET
Venezuela’s ruling bloc said it remained unified behind President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, a day after the United States attacked Venezuela and took Maduro and his wife into custody. With Maduro held in a New York detention center awaiting a court appearance on Monday on drug charges, ministers in Caracas said the detentions were a kidnapping and kept running the state as some residents cautiously stocked up on essentials.
The seizure has injected fresh geopolitical risk into markets set to reopen on Monday, and raised questions about whether Washington can stabilise an oil producer that once supplied heavy crude to U.S. refiners. “The events are a reminder that geopolitical tensions continue to dominate the headlines and drive the markets,” said Marchel Alexandrovich, an economist at Saltmarsh Economics. Venezuela’s output has slumped after years of mismanagement and nationalisations that drove away firms such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips; Chevron is the only U.S. major still operating there.
The shock has also hit Venezuela’s lifeline: crude exports. Port captains have not received requests to authorize loaded ships to set sail, sources close to operations told Reuters, leaving tankers stuck and cargoes delayed.
Trump has framed the operation as a step toward a U.S.-supervised political transition and a reopening of Venezuela’s oil sector, while keeping an oil embargo in place. Industry executives and analysts told Reuters that even with billions of dollars of investment, restoring production would take years because of decaying infrastructure and long underinvestment.
The raid itself was planned for months across the Pentagon and CIA, two U.S. officials told Reuters, with U.S. Special Forces rehearsing on a replica of Maduro’s alleged safe house. More than 150 aircraft were used in the operation, and U.S. strikes targeted air defenses and military installations before a small team moved in to seize Maduro, Reuters reported.
Venezuela’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino, said a large part of Maduro’s security detail was killed during the U.S. action and that the armed forces had been activated nationwide. He backed Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as interim president under a top court order, while reiterating demands for Maduro’s return.
Inside state oil company PDVSA, managers have asked some joint ventures to shut oilfields or clusters of wells because onshore inventories are mounting and the company is running short of diluents — light oil and naphtha used to thin Venezuela’s extra-heavy crude so it can be shipped, three sources said. Even cargoes linked to Chevron’s licensed operations have stopped leaving Venezuelan waters since Thursday, shipping data showed. Exports averaged about 950,000 barrels per day in November but slid to around 500,000 bpd in December after the U.S. measures, according to preliminary ship-tracking figures.
People familiar with operations said U.S. strikes did not damage key oil production and refining sites, though infrastructure at La Guaira port near Caracas was hit. Exports were already running at roughly half of November levels as PDVSA slowed loadings and stored crude following tighter U.S. enforcement against sanctioned tankers and a December cyberattack, the sources said.
International condemnation gathered pace on Sunday, with Latin American governments criticizing the U.S. action and China and Russia also urging a diplomatic path. Cuba’s president denounced the attack and warned that further disruption of Venezuelan supplies would deepen Cuba’s energy crisis; Venezuela provides about 30% of Cuba’s scarce oil imports in exchange for medical personnel, Reuters reported.
But oil specialists and analysts caution there are no quick wins. They say security risks, dilapidated infrastructure, legal uncertainty and the prospect of prolonged instability could delay any return of big foreign producers, even if Washington eventually loosens sanctions. Chevron remains the only American major in the country; Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips were among firms whose assets were swept up in earlier nationalisations, and Conoco has pursued claims tied to the takeover of projects nearly two decades ago.
Markets’ next clear test comes Monday, when the U.N. Security Council is due to meet to discuss the U.S. attack, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said as he condemned what he called a violation of international law. Investors will also watch Maduro’s scheduled appearance in Manhattan federal court and any U.S. guidance on the tanker blockade and oil sanctions as trading resumes.
