Maduro begs OPEC for backup as Trump ramps up military pressure and oil rhetoric

Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro has turned to OPEC for political cover, warning fellow oil producers that the United States, and President Donald Trump personally, pose “growing and illegal threats” to his country and the stability of global energy markets.

In a letter circulated Sunday and published by state broadcaster TeleSUR, Maduro accused Washington of attempting to “seize” Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

“I hope to count on your best efforts to help stop this aggression, which is growing stronger and seriously threatens the balance of the international energy market,” he told OPEC members.

He also “formally denounced” what he described as the “use of lethal military force against the country’s territory, people and institutions”, extending the complaint to OPEC+.

Venezuela, once a pillar of global oil production and a founding member of OPEC alongside Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, has seen its exports collapse to just $4.05bn in 2023, thanks largely to US sanctions imposed during Trump’s first term.

Now, with Trump back in the White House and promising to supercharge US fossil fuel production, tensions are spiking again.

Maduro’s plea came one day after Trump abruptly announced on Truth Social:

“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”

Caracas slammed the remark as a “colonialist threat”.

For months, Venezuelan officials have said the Trump administration’s expanded military footprint in the Caribbean, including the USS Gerald R Ford carrier strike group, F-35s and thousands of US troops, is less about drug interdiction and more about access to oil and gas.

Washington insists this is a counternarcotics mission, but critics note that US data does not classify Venezuela as a major drug supplier. Meanwhile, at least 83 people have been killed in US strikes on vessels Trump claims were involved in drug trafficking, actions human rights groups say amount to extrajudicial killings.

While Trump revives his “drill, baby drill” slogan and pushes new offshore drilling off California and Florida, small Caribbean states, already hammered by climate-fuelled storms, are pleading for big emitters to transition away from oil.