US' JD Vance defends military action in Venezuela, says 'stolen oil must be returned'

US Vice President JD Vance said Saturday that Venezuela ignored offers to reach a settlement, adding that captured leader Nicolas Maduro was the "newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says."

"The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States," Vance said in a post on X.

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Vance also doubled down on the US justification that Maduro was a fugitive from US law, saying: "You don't get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas."

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He addressed claims that "Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs because most of the fentanyl comes from elsewhere". The US VP laid out four reasons for this:

1. "Fentanyl isn't the only drug in the world and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela (or at least there was)

2. Cocaine, which is the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela, is a profit centre for all of the Latin America cartels. If you cut out the money from cocaine (or even reduce it) you substantially weaken the cartels overall. Also, cocaine is bad too!

3. Yes, a lot of fentanyl is coming out of Mexico. That continues to be a focus of our policy in Mexico and is a reason why President Trump shut the border on day one.

4. I see a lot of criticism about oil. About 20 years ago, Venezuela expropriated American oil property and until recently used that stolen property to get rich and fund their narcoterrorist activities. I understand the anxiety over the use of military force, but are we just supposed to allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? Great powers don't act like that."