The United States has carried out its most direct intervention in Latin America in decades, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a January 3 strike ordered by Donald Trump. Washington says the operation was aimed at dismantling a “narco state” and restoring democracy. But critics warn the move revives memories of past US interventions and raises urgent questions about sovereignty, legality, and regional stability — especially as the US moves to take control of Venezuelan oil sales as leverage.

Dr. Lincoln Mitchell, Professor at School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, joins the Breakfast Show to unpack what this intervention really signals, how oil has become central to US strategy, and what the risks are for Venezuela, and US foreign policy more broadly.