In the aftermath of the U.S. military operation that saw Venezuela鈥檚 President Nicol谩s Maduro captured and extracted to the United States, President Donald Trump has been about the motives behind the raid. While the Trump Administration spoke a lot about drug trafficking and narco terrorism in the run-up to last week鈥檚 military operation, many of the actions taken since Maduro鈥檚 capture suggest that oil was the real reason behind it.
While Maduro has in fact been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine, the administration鈥檚 plans to take control of Venezuela鈥檚 oil industry under an unilaterally just days after the raid, suggests that direct access to the country鈥檚 vast oil reserves was the primary motive behind the legally dubious operation. The fact that President Trump admitted to speaking to U.S. oil companies 鈥渂efore and after鈥 the raid further indicates this.
According to a recent , the majority of Americans also believe that oil was a major reason for the military action against Venezuela, although there is a stark partisan divide in what people believe the true motivations were. While Republicans largely follow the official party line, naming 鈥減reventing drug trafficking鈥, 鈥渞emoving corrupt leadership from power鈥 and 鈥減reventing terrorism鈥 as the three main reasons behind the military intervention, most Democrats believe that the operation was about three things: 鈥渋ncreasing U.S. access to oil鈥, 鈥渄istracting Americans from domestic issues鈥 and 鈥渋ncreasing U.S. power globally鈥.
