December 23, 2025, 09:05December 23, 2025, 09:05
According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the US government wants to drive Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro out of office. It’s not just about seizing oil tankers from the so-called shadow fleet on the way to or from Venezuela, it’s also about taking action against the illegal activities in which Maduro is involved, the minister told Fox News. “He has to go,” Noem said.
Kristi Noem stands against Nicolás Maduro.Image: keystone
US President Donald Trump is putting increasing pressure on Maduro – with sanctions, attacks on alleged drug boats, a massive military deployment in the Caribbean and, most recently, the seizure of oil tankers. The sale of oil is the most important source of foreign exchange and income for the Venezuelan state.
Trump has recently left little doubt that he wants a Venezuela without Maduro. He recently said that his days at the top of the state were numbered. At the same time, Trump has so far avoided calling for a change of power as openly as Noem has now done.
Noem speaks of an “enemy of the United States”
Noem’s department oversees the Coast Guard, which is involved in the seizure of oil tankers. “We are not only stopping these ships, but we are also sending a message worldwide that the illegal activities in which Maduro is engaging cannot continue. He has to go,” said Noem in an interview with Fox News. Maduro is involved in smuggling drugs “that are killing the next generation of Americans,” Noem continued. “This is an enemy of the United States against whom we are taking decisive action.”
Trump’s government accuses Maduro of controlling a drug cartel that the United States has classified as a terrorist organization and of being responsible for smuggling drugs into the United States. According to experts, Venezuela is not an important drug producing country, but rather serves as a transit country – especially for the European market. Maduro accuses Washington of wanting to force a change of power in Venezuela under the pretext of the fight against drugs.
Trump has not yet publicly given any specific information about who the US would like to see in power in Venezuela after Maduro’s possible departure. A sudden power vacuum after years of authoritarian rule could plunge the country into chaos and destabilize the entire region. Due to an ongoing economic crisis in Venezuela, millions of Venezuelans have fled abroad in recent years, especially to neighboring countries such as Colombia. (dab/sda/dpa)