“Venezuela Must Remain Independent” — Pope Leo Pushes Back Against Trump’s Plan to “Run Venezuela”
After a U.S. invasion and Trump’s vow to “run the country,” Pope Leo calls for Venezuela’s independence and an end to foreign domination.
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Speaking to pilgrims in a rain-soaked St. Peter’s Square, Leo said he was following the Venezuela crisis “with deep concern,” and urged that “the good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration.”
That higher good, he stressed, requires overcoming violence through “paths of justice and peace” while “guaranteeing the country’s sovereignty.”
Just hours earlier, however, President Donald Trump had announced a very different plan.
After U.S. special forces swooped into Caracas to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Trump declared at a Florida press conference, “We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”
He even mused about putting “boots on the ground” and ordered U.S. oil companies to begin reviving Venezuela’s vast oil fields as part of the takeover.
In effect, Trump asserted an open-ended American control over Venezuela— a stance sharply at odds with Leo’s call to respect that nation’s independence.
Venezuelan officials wasted no time in condemning Washington’s move as a new colonialism.
A Caracas court appointed Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as interim president after Maduro’s abduction. Rodríguez delivered a defiant televised message, demanding Maduro’s release and pointedly vowing, “We will never again be a colony of any empire.”
Other leaders in Venezuela’s ruling party echoed that outrage, charging that the U.S. intervention “only wants our oil.” Trump’s rhetoric about “running” Venezuela and profiting from its petroleum has fed those fears, drawing comparisons to past U.S. military occupations.
The clash of visions could not be more stark: Pope Leo and Venezuelan people are insisting on national self-determination and dignity, even as the American president justifies an unprecedented foreign takeover in the name of U.S. interests.
Trump Defies Leo’s Warnings and Peace Appeal
Sunday’s crisis marks the very scenario Pope Leo tried to prevent. Just last month, during an in-flight press conference on Dec. 2, Leo XIV had publicly urged the Trump administration “not to pursue any military coup or invasion” in Venezuela.
He cautioned that change must come “another way,” through dialogue or economic pressure rather than force.
“So often who suffers in these situations is the people, not the authorities,” Leo warned then — an appeal Trump has now brazenly ignored.
In fact, Leo’s December rebuke came as Trump was amassing the largest Caribbean military presence since 1989 and even issuing ultimatums for Maduro to resign.
The Pope’s message was clear: Venezuela’s conflict is not a two-player geopolitical chess match, but a moral test of whether leaders will protect ordinary families or plunge them into.
By launching an armed intervention days into the new year, Trump has directly contradicted Leo’s counsel and intensified their moral showdown.
The timing is striking.
On New Year’s Day, Pope Leo inaugurated 2026 with a homily and Angelus prayer pleading for a “year of peace” achieved through disarmament of hearts and a rejection of violence.
“Let us begin today to build a year of peace, disarming our hearts and refraining from all violence,” he urged the world on January 1.
Yet barely 72 hours later, news of cruise missiles and commandos in Caracas signaled anything but peace. Leo’s vision of security “rooted in mercy, not force” now faces a dramatic test on the global stage.
The first American pope finds himself morally pitted against an American president’s military gambit.
