The long-term stability of the new order in Caracas, and the response from nations like Russia and China whose influence is being directly targeted, remains to be seen.

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Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, has asserted that the successful United States operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was facilitated by high-level betrayal within Venezuela itself. In a January 30 interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel, Nebenzya stated,

“In Venezuela, a betrayal undoubtedly took place and they talk openly about that. Some higher-ups essentially betrayed the president.”

This internal collapse, he suggested, was a key factor enabling the dramatic January 3rd US attack on Caracas, which resulted in Maduro’s abduction and extradition to the United States to face dubious drug trafficking charges. For more context curious readers might want to read my article: “Why Venezuela’s Military Did Not Fight”.

Drawing a contrast with another US target in the region, Nebenzya predicted that such a scenario would not repeat in Cuba.

“In Cuba, things won’t play out that way,” he said, noting that recent US threats against Havana remain “just rhetoric for now.” He elaborated, “Because doing in Cuba what they did in Venezuela would be no walk in the park,” implying a greater degree of national unity and preparedness in Cuba. This sentiment echoes Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s prior vow to defend the island’s independence “to the last blood drop.”

The aftermath of the operation has solidified a new political reality in Venezuela. With Maduro imprisoned in the US, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as the country’s “authorized president” on January 6. The Venezuelan military has since taken an oath of allegiance to Rodriguez, who has been proclaimed commander-in-chief. She has honored those who died resisting the January 3 attack and established a National Defense and Cybersecurity Centre, while also extending an olive branch to diaspora Venezuelans, though not to “extremists” calling for further aggression.

Moscow’s view of the crisis is unequivocal. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has condemned the US operation as “completely illegal” and a blatant violation of international law, motivated purely by resource acquisition.

“President Donald Trump makes no secret of the fact that… he launched the absolutely illegal operation… and captured President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro… he said bluntly that the Americans need Venezuelan oil,” Lavrov stated.

This perspective is reinforced by subsequent US actions; on January 30, the US Treasury moved to lift some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry, explicitly allowing transactions with the state oil company PDVSA while banning any dealings involving Russian, Iranian, North Korean, Cuban, or Chinese entities.

This policy shift aligns with stated US strategic goals. US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio openly acknowledged that the erosion of Iranian, Russian, and Chinese influence in Venezuela “would not have been possible as long as Maduro was there.” He framed the US mission as ensuring Venezuela is no longer “the central base of operation for every geopolitical adversary we have.” Meanwhile, the Kremlin has indicated that while Russia maintains constant diplomatic contact with authorized President Rodriguez, there are no immediate plans for a phone call between her and President Vladimir Putin.

A Forced Entente?

Thus, the event described by Russia’s UN envoy as a “betrayal” has possibly triggered a profound geopolitical recalibration. The United States has moved decisively to remove a hostile government, capture its leader, and is now actively attempting on restructuring Venezuela’s economic and diplomatic ties to sever its alliances with America’s primary adversaries, all while seeking to capitalize on the country’s vast oil resources. The long-term stability of the new order in Caracas, and the response from nations like Russia and China whose influence is being directly targeted, remains to be seen.

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Miguel Santos García is a Puerto Rican writer and political analyst who mainly writes about the geopolitics of neocolonial conflicts and Hybrid Wars within the 4th Industrial Revolution, the ongoing New Cold War and the transition towards multipolarity. Visit his blog here. 

He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). 

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