Martina Navratilova may be one of tennis’s all-time greats, but when it comes to geopolitics, she’s volleying from well outside the lines. Over the weekend, the former champion turned left-wing commentator caused a stir by calling for international sanctions against the United States in response to President Donald Trump’s arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro — a move that has been widely praised as a decisive blow against narco-authoritarianism in the Western Hemisphere.
In a series of posts on X, Navratilova lent her support to an anti-American screed accusing the U.S. of pillaging Venezuela’s natural resources. First came a curt “love it” endorsement of a post demanding sanctions on U.S. companies returning to Venezuela’s oil sector. Then she doubled down: “Holding a country hostage while pillaging its natural resources. Next stop — either Greenland or Nigeria.”
It’s a jarring line of attack, especially considering the context.
The operation to apprehend Nicolás Maduro wasn’t some rogue act of empire. It was a lawfully executed mission based on indictments issued by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2020, under the Biden administration. Maduro, long accused of running Venezuela’s oil sector as a personal piggy bank and narco-trafficking hub, had seized U.S. oil assets without compensation, collapsed the nation’s economy, and plunged millions into exile.
Any American oil company that expropriates oil from Venezuela should be sanctioned by the International Criminal Court.
— Lauren Windsor (@lawindsor) January 3, 2026
Trump’s position is blunt: America built much of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, and the socialist regime stole it. Now, with Maduro in U.S. custody and the regime decapitated, Trump says the U.S. will return — not to plunder, but to rebuild what Venezuela’s corrupt government destroyed.
“We built Venezuela’s oil industry with American talent, drive, and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us,” Trump said. “They took all of our property.”
His plan? U.S. oil companies will pour billions into the country’s collapsed energy sector, restore capacity, and extract value in return for assets stolen during Maduro’s reign. It’s not colonialism. It’s restitution.
But to Navratilova and others on the far left, the optics of American companies returning to Venezuelan oil fields is tantamount to theft — even if the original theft came from Caracas.
The irony is thick. Sanctioning the U.S. for taking action against a dictator who helped turn one of the richest countries in Latin America into a failed narco-state? That’s not activism. That’s ideological reflex.
And yet, this is precisely the dynamic Trump has seized on — the divide between those who prioritize symbolism and those who prioritize results. While the Biden administration posted a $15 million bounty on Maduro but failed to act, Trump carried out the mission. He didn’t apologize for it. He made it clear: when American assets are stolen and American security is threatened, there will be consequences.
Holding a country hostage while pillaging its natural resources.
Next stop- either Greenland or Nigeria https://t.co/EKH251QLaP— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) January 4, 2026
Navratilova’s call for the International Criminal Court to intervene against the United States — a nation that never even ratified the Rome Statute — shows how far detached this critique really is. It’s political theater, not policy. And it underscores a deeper truth: for some, no American action can ever be justified if it comes from Donald Trump — no matter how legal, strategic, or effective it may be.
But the world is watching a different scoreboard.
Maduro is in custody. Venezuelans are celebrating. U.S. assets are on the verge of being restored. And for once, accountability didn’t arrive with a shrug — it arrived with precision, purpose, and zero casualties.
