Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak links Maduro’s capture to global fight for energy reserves

Kotak Mahindra Bank founder Uday Kotak warned of an intensifying race between nations for "hard power" following a dramatic US military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, linking the action to control over the world's largest oil reserves.

"The United States takes control over Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves on earth. As I said in my year-end musings, this is a world of hard power, and the race between nations is on," Kotak wrote on social media platform X on January 4.

The veteran banker's comments came hours after President Donald Trump announced that US forces had successfully captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in an overnight military strike on Caracas dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve. Trump declared the US would "run" Venezuela until a "safe, proper and judicious transition" could be achieved.

Casualties and Military Operations

At least 40 people were killed during the US military strike, including both military personnel and civilians, according to a senior Venezuelan official who spoke to The New York Times. Among the dead was 80-year-old Rosa González, killed when a US airstrike hit a three-story apartment building in Catia La Mar, a coastal area near Caracas.

The operation involved more than 150 aircraft launching from 20 bases across the Western Hemisphere and was carried out by the Army's Delta Force alongside FBI agents, according to Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine. Maduro and his wife were transported to New York, where they face federal charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation.

Oil and Geopolitical Stakes

Venezuela holds approximately 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, representing roughly 18-20% of the world's total and exceeding Saudi Arabia's 297 billion barrels. Trump emphasised oil would be central to the US presence in Venezuela, stating American oil companies would invest billions to rebuild the country's infrastructure.

In his year-end reflections, Kotak had warned that the world was witnessing "dominance of hard power over soft power" and that "the race between nations is intensifying, less mindful of consequences". The comments underscore concerns among global business leaders about rising geopolitical tensions and the return of power politics in international affairs.

International reaction was sharply divided, with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemning the strikes as crossing "an unacceptable line," while Argentine President Javier Milei celebrated the action.