Nicolas Maduro has appeared in a New York court after his capture by US forces. Sky’s US correspondent Martha Kelner who was in court describes how the “dramatic” hearing unfolded – watch below.
Tuesday 6 January 2026 05:01, UK
Analyst Michael Clarke will answer your questions on the US attack on Venezuela and capture of Nicolas Maduro, what it means for other perceived enemies of Donald Trump and what could happen next in a live Q&A at 12pm on Tuesday.
Submit your question in the box at the top of the page.
The toppling of President Nicolas Maduro has highlighted the enormous pile of debt haunting Venezuela, which is increasing the pressure on its government.
To service the debt, the country remains dependent on oil exports, which Donald Trump said the US would try to block entirely.
Here is everything you need to know about Venezuela’s debt crisis:
What is Venezuela’s economic situation?
Venezuela’s economy contracted considerably after 2013, when oil production plunged, inflation spiralled and poverty surged.
Lower global oil prices and discounts to the nation’s crude prices limited revenue gains, leaving little space to service debt.
After years of economic woe and US sanctions that severed Venezuela from capital markets, it defaulted in 2017.
The recent US blockade of sanctioned oil tankers has made the situation worse.
Watch: Dramatic footage of US forces seizing oil tanker
How much does Venezuela owe?
Venezuela has around $60bn (£44.59bn) of defaulted bonds remaining, according to analyst estimates.
Total external debt stands at around $150-$170bn (£111.5 – £126.3bn), analysts say.
The current debt-to-GDP ratio is among the highest in the world and lies between 180%-200%, based on data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
To whom does Venezuela owe money?
Years of sanctions have made it difficult to track ownership.
The biggest share of commercial creditors is likely comprised of international bondholders, including specialist distressed-debt investors, sometimes referred to as vulture funds.
Moreover, several companies were handed compensation through international arbitration after Venezuela expropriated assets.
Watch: Can the US reverse Venezuela’s oil decline?
As our economics and data editor Ed Conway explained last month, the US is the world’s biggest oil producer by a country mile.
However, it produces light crude – as opposed to the heavy stuff needed to feed its refineries.
In other words, if the US is going to keep its cars fed with petrol, it needs heavy, gloopy crude, as that’s what most of its refineries are set up to process.
And since it costs many, many billions of dollars to overhaul refineries, no one particularly wants to do that anytime soon.
The upshot is that for all that America theoretically pumps more crude oil than it would ever need out of its own territories, it is still totally dependent on trade to meet its demands for heavy oil.
Most American crude is exported overseas. And America imports well over 6,000 barrels of oil a day to feed its refineries in Texas and Louisiana with the heavy stuff they can digest.
All of which brings us to Venezuela, because it is, alongside Canada and Russia, sitting on the world’s biggest reserves of heavy oil.
Donald Trump has said US oil companies that invest in Venezuela could be reimbursed with public money.
The president made the suggestion in an interview with Sky’s US partner network NBC News, as he predicted expanded operations will be “up and running” in the country within 18 months.
“I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money,” he said.
“A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.”
He added that “it’ll be a very substantial amount of money” for the oil industry to spend, but predicted “they’ll do very well and the country will do well”.
Venezuela’s history of seizing oil company’s assets, as well as ongoing US sanctions, may dampen the industry’s enthusiasm for investing in the country.
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves of any country in the world, but only one US energy company, Chevron, continues to operate there.
Analysts have warned that a lack of infrastructure and investment Trump’s ambition could take years to realise.
Watch: How much oil does Venezuela have?
But Trump insisted American oil companies “want to go in so badly”.
“Having a Venezuela that’s an oil producer is good for the United States because it keeps the price of oil down,” he added.
In the aftermath of the US capture of Nicolas Maduro, Donald Trump has been repeatedly referencing the Monroe Doctrine to justify the intervention.
The maxim that has shaped American foreign policy for two centuries.
But what is it, and what does it have to do with Venezuela?
What is the Monroe Doctrine?
The doctrine, formulated by the then-US president, James Monroe, was articulated in his 1823 address to Congress.
It was aimed at opposing European interference in the Western Hemisphere as several Latin American nations had just gained independence from European empires at the time.
Monroe aimed to stop Europe from regaining control while agreeing to keep out of European wars.
In the two centuries since, the Monroe Doctrine has been invoked by presidents seeking to justify interventions in Latin America.
What has Trump said about the Monroe Doctrine – and the ‘Donroe Doctrine’?
Trump said yesterday his administration had superseded the Monroe doctrine “by a lot”.
“They are now calling it the Donroe Doctrine,” he claimed in a news conference after Maduro’s capture.
He said Venezuela’s adversary to the US was “in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy dating back more than two centuries”.
“American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again,” he added.
But the Donroe Doctrine may reach much further than the Western Hemisphere as our international editor Dominic Waghorn explains in his analysis below…
We can bring you an update on those reports of gunfire near the presidential palace in Caracas (see 1.48 post).
Sky News understands it was as a result of confusion between different government forces in the city.
The drones of state agencies were undertaking surveillance in the capital, but the presidential guard had no knowledge.
They proceeded to shoot at them, before being notified as to who they belonged to.
The US’s high stakes intervention in Venezuela could have a positive impact on world energy markets, the prime minister of Hungary has said.
“What I consider important for Hungary from this is that together with Venezuela the United States, by my estimation, will be able to control 40-50% of the world’s oil reserves,” Viktor Orban told reporters.
“This is a power already capable of significantly influencing the world market price of energy.
“I see a strong chance that as a result of bringing Venezuela under control, a more favourable global energy situation will emerge for Hungary, and that is good news.”
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, Budapest has continued to import Russian oil and gas.
However, it has also taken steps to diversify its supplies.
Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader Maroa Corina Machado posted on social media before Nicolas Maduro’s court appearance in New York.
In a post on X, Machado – who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her efforts to bring about democracy in her country – said Venezuelans took to the streets in 30 countries and 130 cities around the world to celebrate Maduro’s capture.
She thanked Donald Trump and said Venezuela would be the main ally of the US in matters of security, energy, democracy, and human rights.
“The freedom of Venezuela is near, and soon we will celebrate on our land,” Machado added.
“We will shout, pray, and embrace as a family, because our children will return home.”
There are reports of gunfire in the Venezuelan capital tonight, with videos circulating on social media.
It comes just days after the city was rocked by explosions during the American raid which captured Nicolas Maduro.
According to two White House officials, the US is “not involved” in the reported gunfire near the presidential palace.
“The administration is closely tracking the reports,” they said.
By Alex Rossi, international correspondent
Donald Trump’s audacious military action in the skies above Venezuela has put the world on notice.
This is a US president who continues to tear up the rule book of how the international system is run. And on Air Force One, he made clear Venezuela may only be the start.
Across the region leaders are now asking alarmed questions about who might be next – Trump told reporters on Air Force One, Colombia was run by a “sick man” who likes “making cocaine and selling it to the United States”.
Mexico also does not escape – the US leader says drugs are pouring through the country and America is going to have to do something.
And the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland has also been highlighted in the past – the US President has raised the prospect of annexation, citing its strategic location for defence and mineral wealth.
The US President, it seems, with his vast armada still in the Caribbean, is signalling a return to 19th century practices of gunboat diplomacy – a world in which the strong dominate the weak.
In the western hemisphere it means, according to Trump, that America has primacy.
With what’s happened in Venezuela and the Trumpian world view taking shape in dramatic fashion, it’s clear the international system is heading in a new direction.
What was taken for granted and was known as the rules based order forged after the Second World War may now be returning to an era where might is right.
Watch Rossi’s analysis here:
Let’s take you back to that moment in court when Nicolas Maduro was confronted at the end of his hearing.
As he stood to leave with federal officers, a man in the audience stood and began shouting at him in Spanish, calling him an “illegitimate” president.
The man, 33-year-old Pedro Rojas, said later that he had been imprisoned by the Venezuelan regime.
As deputy US Marshals led Maduro from the courtroom, he looked directly at the man and said in Spanish: “I am a kidnapped president. I am a prisoner of war.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free