WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's order for U.S. military strikes on Venezuela over the weekend, culminating in the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro by special forces, has drawn swift and sharp condemnation from some of America's chief geopolitical rivals. China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba — all longstanding allies of the Maduro regime — decried the operation as a blatant violation of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty. The unilateral action, which occurred on Saturday, has ripple effects across these nations, potentially disrupting economic ties, fueling domestic unrest, and reshaping global power dynamics.
The strikes targeted key government sites in Caracas, leading to Maduro's arrest and the installation of an interim government backed by Washington. According to U.S. officials, the operation aimed to end what they described as Maduro's authoritarian rule amid years of economic collapse and human rights abuses. Venezuelan oil exports, a lifeline for several of these countries, now hang in the balance as American firms eye opportunities to rebuild the nation's battered energy sector.
China, Venezuela's largest oil buyer, expressed profound shock at the developments. The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that the U.S. had "clearly violated international law," while Foreign Minister Wang Yi remarked on Sunday, "We have never believed that any country can act as the world's police, nor do we accept that any nation can claim to be the world's judge." Yi addressed the "sudden developments in Venezuela" without naming the U.S. directly, emphasizing that "the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law."
Beijing's economic stake in Venezuela is significant, though not existential for China. The country has purchased about 80% of Venezuela's petroleum exports, which totaled less than a million barrels per day in 2025 — a sharp decline from 3 million barrels daily 25 years earlier, according to Reuters. These imports represent roughly 4% of China's overall oil purchases in recent years. Much of this oil served to repay Venezuelan debts to China, estimated in the tens of billions.
Ryan C. Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, highlighted the risks for Beijing. "The big question that remains unknown at this point is whether all of that production, and especially any increase in production in Venezuela that might occur, is going to come to the United States, or whether it will be sold on international markets," Berg told CBS News. He added, "There's a huge risk here for China that some of its energy security is in fact redirected away from China and toward the United States or toward other markets because of this play in Venezuela."
Berg noted that while China could source oil elsewhere, the simultaneous U.S. pressure on Iran — another key supplier — complicates matters. Beyond economics, the Venezuela operation raises alarms in Beijing about precedents for unilateral action. Analysts worry it could embolden Chinese President Xi Jinping to pursue aggressive moves against Taiwan, the self-governing island that produces critical semiconductors for global tech and defense. Xi has repeatedly vowed to unify Taiwan with the mainland, not ruling out force since taking power in 2012.
Eric Olander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project, suggested China would respond more through diplomacy than direct intervention. "There isn't much in the way of material support that China can offer Venezuela at this time, but rhetorically, Beijing will be very important when it leads the effort at the U.N. and with other developing countries to rally opinion against the U.S.," Olander told Reuters. He pointed to China's history of sustaining ties with sanctioned nations like Zimbabwe and Iran via trade and investment.
In Moscow, reactions were equally pointed, though President Vladimir Putin had not commented publicly by Tuesday. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, a Kremlin insider, called the U.S. actions "illegal" and "destabilizing," according to Russia's state-run TASS news agency. Yet Medvedev acknowledged a pragmatic angle: "It must be acknowledged that, despite the obvious unlawfulness of Trump's behavior, one cannot deny a certain consistency in his actions. He and his team defend their country's national interests quite harshly."
Russia's ties to Venezuela include military cooperation and oil interests, mirroring its strategy in other regions. Berg drew parallels to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year since the full-scale assault began in February 2022. "The Russians have for a long time thought of themselves as a great power, and in their opinion, great powers get exclusive spheres of influence to behave how they wish," Berg said. He cited Russian diplomatic forays into Latin America as signals of impending European aggression, such as Medvedev's 2008 visit to Venezuela before the Georgia invasion, Putin's 2014 trip to Brazil amid Crimea annexation, and Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov's 2022 tour of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba just before the Ukraine offensive.
These moves, Berg explained, demonstrate Russia's willingness to challenge U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere. "Every time they are ready to pursue aggression in the European theater, it's almost like clockwork, they have a trip of a significant political official to Latin America and the Caribbean," he told CBS News. The Venezuela strikes could prompt similar Russian posturing, testing the boundaries of great power competition.
Across the Middle East, Iran's response intertwined with its own internal turmoil. Protests against the Islamic Republic's leadership have raged for 10 days, the most intense since 2022, with at least 29 deaths reported by the U.S.-based Human Rights News Agency as of Monday. Security forces clashed with demonstrators in cities like Tehran and Isfahan, amid demands for economic relief and political reform.
Trump waded into the fray last week, warning that if Iran "violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue." He claimed his administration was "locked and loaded and ready to go." Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei countered that Iran would "not yield to the enemy," alleging U.S. and Israeli orchestration of the unrest.
For many Iranians weary of over four decades of clerical rule, the Venezuela operation sparked cautious optimism. Maziar Bahari, editor of IranWire, observed, "I think many Iranian people will be inspired by that (message), have been inspired by that. The message has made the Iranian regime more careful about its actions and using violence against people." Bahari cautioned, however, that the protests were unlikely to topple the regime without a clear alternative, though they might force behavioral changes.
Echoes of this hope surfaced at protests in London over the weekend. One demonstrator, who identified herself only as Ghazal and advocated restoring Iran's pre-1979 monarchy, told CBS News, "What's happening in Venezuela is a kind of warning for the Islamic Republic. That's the message from America or Israel: 'That will happen to you, Khamenei.'" She added, "Definitely something will change, and the Islamic Republic will fall down very soon."
Closest to home, Cuba faces the most immediate economic fallout. Havana condemned the strikes, reporting 32 Cuban nationals killed — security personnel deployed at Maduro's request. The Cuban government stated, "For that sister nation and for her people, we are ready to give, as for Cuba, from our own blood," and warned that "all of the nations in the region should be on alert, because the threat hangs over all of them."
Trump predicted collapse for Cuba's communist government during a Sunday interview on Air Force One. "Cuba looks like it is ready to fall," he said. "I don't know if they're going to hold out, but Cuba now has no income. They got all their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil." Berg clarified that this referred to internal pressures, noting Cuba's dire straits reminiscent of the 1990s post-Soviet collapse. Venezuela supplied oil that Cuba resold for profit, and any cutoff by the new Caracas leadership could exacerbate blackouts and shortages on the island.
Yet Berg tempered expectations for a U.S.-friendly outcome. "When it comes to the Cuban regime, we have decades and decades of anti-Americanism — so-called anti-imperialism," he said, deeming a sudden pro-Washington shift unlikely even if the current government falls. As the dust settles, the Venezuela operation signals a bolder U.S. posture, entering what Berg called "a new phase of great power competition." Questions linger over oil flows, diplomatic salvos at the United Nations, and whether Trump's tactics will deter or provoke further confrontations from Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, and Havana.