On the 3rd January 2026, the United States military launched Operation Absolute Resolve, an operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in Caracas. President Trump stated that the US would “run Venezuela” and that American oil companies would step in to help “fix the badly broken infrastructure”.

Venezuela’s strategic importance, however, extends well beyond oil. The country holds significant reserves of a wide range of commodities, raising important economic, market and geopolitical questions.

In this first episode of Into the Futures, Richard Stephenson examines the implications of recent events, the changing US foreign policy, the outlook for Venezuelan commodities, and what this could mean for global financial markets.