After months of escalating tension, the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife following a military operation in the South American country. It has deep and complex ties to the greater Houston area, where news of the capture reverberated Saturday.
“Harris County has the fourth largest Venezuelan population in the U.S., and a majority Latin American population,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a native of Colombia, said in a statement. “Our energy industry, with obvious ties to Venezuela, is a major part of our economy, jobs, and the stability of energy prices nationally. I know that folks in Harris County are watching President Trump’s actions regarding Venezuela this morning.”
At approximately 2 a.m. local time Saturday in Venezuela, the U.S. carried out a “large-scale strike” against Venezuela, according to comments by President Donald Trump on social media. During the strike, the U.S. detained Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Maduro and his wife were reportedly being transported to New York and have been indicted on drug, arms and conspiracy charges.
Speaking at a Saturday press conference about the military actions in Venezuela, Trump mentioned the 2024 murder of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old Houston girl. He accused the two Venezuelan men who have been charged in her death of being part of Tren De Aragua — a Venezuelan gang.
“For years, I’ve highlighted the stories of those innocent Americans whose lives were so heartlessly robbed by this Venezuelan terrorist organization,” Trump said Saturday. “Americans like 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray from Houston. Beautiful Jocelyn Nungaray … kidnapped, assaulted and murdered by Tren De Aragua. Animals, they murder Jocelyn and left her dead under the bridge.”
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The capital murder case against Johan Jose Rangel Martinez and Franklin Peña is ongoing. Prosecutors in Harris County have not said the men are connected to the Venezuelan gang.
Some Democrats have questioned the Trump administration’s legal authority to intervene in Venezuela’s government without approval from Congress.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s national security advisor, indicated during a news conference Saturday that Congress was not given notice of the strike in advance, calling it “largely a law-enforcement” operation, according to the New York Times.
Oil industry ties
Lucio Vasquez / Houston Public Media
Following Maduro’s capture, Trump said American companies will take over oil operations in Venezuela.
Houston is a hub for the oil and gas industry. Houston-based Chevron is the only American oil producer still operating in Venezuela.
“Chevron remains focused on the safety and well-being of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets,” Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne said in a statement. “We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.”
Francisco Monaldi is the director of the Latin America Energy Program at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. He said Houston has deep ties with Venezuela and many oil firms direct their Latin American operations from the city.
“Houston is going to be the center of a lot of the potential activity of investment in Venezuela,” he said. “It has a long history of connection to Venezuela.”
Citgo and the Citgo 6
In November 2017, brothers Alirio Jose Zambrano and Jose Luis Zambrano — who both lived in the Katy suburb west of Houston — were among six U.S.-based executives at Citgo — a Houston-based company that is a subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), Venezuela’s state-run petroleum company — who were arrested by the regime of Maduro after attending a meeting in Caracas.
The men, who became known as the “Citgo 6,” were accused of attempting to refinance corporate debt without authorization, convicted of crimes by a Venezuelan judge and sentenced to lengthy prison sentences before eventually being released. Five of them were freed in October 2022 as part of a prisoner swap between Venezuela and the United States. The other man had previously been released in March of 2022.
Carlos Anez
Alexandra Forseth, a Houston-area resident who is Alirio Zambrano’s daughter and Jose Luis Zambrano’s niece, was a leading advocate for the men’s release. In a statement to Houston Public Media on Saturday, she said she and her family were praying for those wrongfully held in Venezuela.
“We are praying for the safety of all who remain wrongfully detained and continue to urge for their prompt release, so they can be reunited with their families,” she said.
Several Americans still remain in Venezuelan custody, according to the New York Times.
In May 2024, the Zambrano brothers sued Citgo for $400 million over their Venezuelan imprisonment.
Early last month, a judge approved the sale of Citgo to Amber Energy following a years-long legal battle. A court previously found that Citgo’s shares could be auctioned to pay off the debts that its state-owned parent company, PDVSA, owed to a Canadian mining company.
Shortly after the ruling, Venezuela’s Vice President and Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez reportedly said the country rejected Citgo’s sale and filed an appeal in the court case.
Seized oil tanker
U.S. Attorney General’s Office/X via AP
On Dec. 10, an oil tanker known as the Skipper was seized near Venezuela by the U.S amid escalating tensions between Trump and Maduro. As of Saturday, the tanker still appeared to be sitting approximately 40 miles of the Galveston coast, where it has been for several weeks.
Ed Hirs, an energy fellow at the University of Houston, said in December that the tanker was likely sent to the Galveston area because of its oil infrastructure.
Several weeks after seizing the Skipper, the U.S. announced that it had seized a second tanker as it was departing from Venezuela.
The U.S. has reportedly been pursuing a third oil tanker that was heading to Venezuela. According to Reuters, Russia had asked the U.S. on New Year’s Day to stop pursuing it. The tanker was still reportedly being pursued by the U.S. as of Saturday.
Hidalgo, the elected official in the Houston area, said “many are rightly celebrating the removal of the top leader of a truly terrible autocratic regime. Not only could this morning’s actions help improve the lives of Venezuelans, but on a numbers-and-cents basis, they could lead to better outcomes for our residents, our energy industry, and the nation.”
She also said that Houston-area residents, along with the oil and gas industry, only stand to gain if Venezuela and its government are stabilized.
“As President Trump’s ‘takeover’ proceeds, on behalf of community and economic interests in Harris County – the third largest county in the nation and home to a massive energy industry with national ramifications – I call for the President to usher in stability and success by ensuring a prompt democratic transition in Venezuela. And I call for Congress to reclaim its power and hold the President’s actions accountable, ensuring they bring about a prompt transition to the elected Venezuelan leadership and their winning coalition. This necessitates transparency and respect for the rule of law on the part of our federal leadership.”
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