Any hopes that the US military intervention in Venezuela would be a quick "in-and-out" operation have been dashed by President Donald Trump himself. In a candid interview, he admitted that Washington’s oversight of the South American nation—and crucially, its oil—could last for years.

The admission marks a definitive shift from "regime change" to what critics are calling "soft annexation." With Nicolás Maduro in a Brooklyn jail cell, the US is not just supporting the interim government; it is effectively the shadow cabinet, dictating economic and energy policy in Caracas.

"Only Time Will Tell"

Trump refused to set a timeline for elections, stating that "only time will tell" how long the US would need to manage the transition. This open-ended commitment is raising alarms in the Global South about the return of neo-colonial protectorates.

• The Energy Secretary’s Role: US Energy Secretary Chris Wright was blunt: control over Venezuela’s oil is "leverage." The administration aims to flood the global market with Venezuelan crude to lower gas prices for American voters, regardless of the impact on OPEC nations like Nigeria and Angola.
• Opposition Sidelined? While opposition leader María Corina Machado calls this an "irreversible process" towards freedom, Trump’s endorsement of the interim president (a former Maduro insider) suggests Washington prefers stability over democratic purity.
• Infrastructure Decay: Trump acknowledged it would "take a while" to repair Venezuela’s rusted oil infrastructure. This signals lucrative contracts for US firms like Halliburton and Chevron, effectively privatizing the nation's recovery.

The New Reality

Venezuela is now a project, not just a partner. For the region, and indeed for resource-rich nations in Africa, the precedent is terrifying: sovereignty is negotiable if your resources are strategic enough.