Venezuela Braces For ‘Armed Struggle’ As U.S. Gunboats Circle Oil-Rich Caribbean.

At stake: the world’s largest oil reserves, U.S. imperial power, and the future of international law.

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro stood before military commanders this week and declared his country “prepared for armed struggle” against the United States, vowing to mobilise millions of troops and militias to repel what he called a campaign of intimidation and plunder.

“Today, Venezuela has more national power, is more united, and is more prepared to preserve its independence and build peace under any circumstances should we have to resort to armed struggle,” Maduro said, announcing the mobilisation of 2.5 million personnel.

Behind the escalating rhetoric lies a battle that goes far beyond drugs or diplomacy: a confrontation over who controls Venezuela’s vast energy wealth. With more than 300 billion barrels of proven reserves, the largest in the world, five times greater than those of the United States, Venezuela sits at the centre of a geopolitical contest that increasingly resembles a resource war.

U.S. Naval Strikes, Dead Fishermen, And Broken Diplomacy:

The crisis deepened after two U.S. naval strikes in early September destroyed boats allegedly transporting narcotics from Venezuela, killing 14 people. President Donald Trump boasted of the operations on his Truth Social platform, warning: “Be warned, if you are transporting drugs that can kill Americans, we are hunting you!”

But the legality of the strikes is under fire. Senator Rand Paul condemned them as “extrajudicial executions at sea,” while analysts note that Washington has provided no verifiable evidence that the vessels carried drugs. “It looks like the U.S. is claiming judge, jury, and executioner authority in international waters,” said Rosa Menéndez, a Caracas-based human rights lawyer.

The Venezuelan government seized on the attacks to accuse Washington of seeking a pretext for war. Just days earlier, Venezuelan officials said a U.S. warship had illegally detained nine fishermen in its exclusive economic zone, holding them for eight hours before releasing them under Venezuelan naval escort. Foreign Minister Yván Gil called it a “direct provocation” and an “illegal use of excessive military means.”

With communications between Washington and Caracas now “completely broken,” according to Maduro, the risk of escalation is rising fast.

Propaganda, Paranoia, And The Shadow Of Oil:

Both governments are amplifying narratives to justify their moves. Washington insists the Caribbean deployments are part of its anti-narcotics campaign, targeting the so-called “Cartel de los Soles,” a shadowy network of Venezuelan military officers accused of drug trafficking. In July, the Trump administration designated the group a terrorist organisation and renewed a $50 million bounty on Maduro’s arrest.

Maduro, meanwhile, denounces the cartel allegations as a smokescreen. “Everyone knows the story of drugs and drug trafficking is a plot,”he said. “They want regime change to seize the country’s wealth… to control our oil reserves.”

Analysts say both sides are manipulating reality. “Yes, Venezuela’s ruling elite has been linked to illicit trafficking, but the U.S. also has a clear strategic agenda: securing influence over the hemisphere’s largest oil patch,” said Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow at Chatham House. “The drug war provides cover for a geopolitical resource grab.”

The Militarisation Of The Caribbean:

The militarisation is stark. U.S. Southern Command has deployed warships and surveillance assets to the Caribbean, raising fears of confrontation with Venezuelan patrols. Trump, flanked by military officials, released a video of the September 8 strike showing a boat obliterated in a fireball.

Maduro responded by expanding Venezuela’s militia program to 4.5 million volunteers, a vast though lightly armed force that blurs the line between civilian and combatant. State media broadcast images of militias drilling with rifles and chanting anti-U.S. slogans, echoing Cold War–era mobilisations.

Regional governments are alarmed. Colombian Senator Iván Cepeda warned that “a single miscalculation in these waters could trigger a war that engulfs the Caribbean.” Brazil’s foreign ministry urged both sides to “avoid escalation that endangers regional stability.”

Energy Wars In Disguise:

For all the talk of narcotics and terrorism, experts say the core issue is energy. Venezuela’s reserves, larger than Saudi Arabia’s, have long been viewed by Washington as a critical geopolitical prize. U.S. sanctions have already strangled Venezuela’s oil exports, but outright military pressure suggests a shift from economic to hard power tactics.

“History shows us the U.S. has repeatedly intervened where oil supplies are threatened, from Iraq to Libya,” said Medea Benjamin of CodePink. “Now we’re watching the same script unfold in the Caribbean.”

China and Russia, both major investors in Venezuelan oil, are watching closely. Moscow’s foreign ministry condemned the U.S. strikes as “piracy under the guise of counter-narcotics,” while Beijing reiterated its support for Venezuela’s sovereignty.

Conclusion: Oil, Empire, And The Real Stakes:

Beneath the rhetoric, this crisis is not fundamentally about drug cartels or democratic legitimacy; it is about oil, empire, and who controls the world’s most strategic resources. Venezuela’s crude reserves, greater than those of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia combined, make the stakes unmistakable.

Trump frames the naval strikes as protecting American lives from drugs, but they function equally as a demonstration of U.S. force aimed at a government sitting atop the globe’s largest untapped oil wealth. Maduro exploits this reality to paint himself as a defender of sovereignty, even as his government faces deep corruption and economic collapse.

The real danger is that “counter-narcotics” becomes a convenient cloak for energy wars, where international law is bypassed in favour of unilateral strikes and intimidation. If such actions are normalised, they risk setting a precedent for resource-driven conflicts dressed up as security operations.

For ordinary Venezuelans, caught between sanctions, repression, and militarisation, the fight is not about narcotics or democracy. It is about survival in a struggle where the world’s great powers see their homeland not as a nation, but as a treasure chest of crude oil. And unless checked, the Caribbean could become the next front line in the global battle for energy supremacy.