On January 3, 2026, Delta Force operators entered Caracas and arrested Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. The operation ended a decade of narco-dictatorship that had destabilized the hemisphere.
The arrest enforced a 2020 U.S. federal indictment. Maduro and Flores face charges of narco-terrorism and trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into America through FARC and the Cartel of the Suns. These aren’t theoretical crimes. In 2023 alone, over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, many from cocaine and fentanyl that flowed through networks Maduro protected. Miami, Atlanta, and Houston saw Cartel of the Suns cocaine flooding their streets while Maduro’s regime took its cut.
The operation had legal authority and required no Congressional approval. U.S. statutes like 18 U.S.C. § 960 on narco-terrorism and presidential powers under Article II justified the arrest of indicted fugitives. This was law enforcement executing federal warrants, not a military action requiring Congressional authorization. The President has inherent constitutional authority to apprehend criminals who have harmed Americans, just as federal marshals don’t need Congress to approve each arrest. The Justice Department issued the indictment in 2020; the executive branch executed it in 2026.
Critics on the left and anti-Trump conservatives will call this regime change or a sovereignty violation. They’re wrong on both counts.
The raid targeted individuals under indictment, not Venezuela’s government. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed power immediately under Venezuela’s constitution. The U.S. has announced no plans to interfere in Venezuelan governance. Venezuelan opposition leaders, including María Corina Machado and Edmundo González, publicly supported the operation as a step toward restoring the rule of law.
As for sovereignty: narco-terrorism itself violates the principle of peaceful coexistence between nations. When a head of state runs a criminal enterprise that pumps poison into another country, he forfeits any claim to diplomatic immunity. Sovereignty doesn’t shield mass murderers from prosecution. The Westphalian system assumes nations respect each other’s borders and citizens—Maduro weaponized his state apparatus to attack ours. Arresting him defends sovereignty; it doesn’t violate it.
Compare this operation to recent interventions. Iraq in 2003 meant a full invasion, trillions spent on reconstruction, and years of occupation. This raid lasted thirty minutes. No troops remained. Afghanistan meant twenty years of nation-building and counterinsurgency. This operation extracted two criminals and left. The distinction matters: precision enforcement isn’t the same as nation-building.
What makes this case unique and not a slippery slope? Three factors. First, a formal federal indictment issued years before the operation, not a hasty pretext. Second, direct, provable harm to American citizens through drug trafficking—not abstract geopolitical concerns. Third, narco-terrorism charges, the most severe form of international criminality. Future operations would need this same combination of legal foundation, concrete harm, and extraordinary criminality. This wasn’t a new precedent; it was an old principle applied with modern precision.
The security benefits are concrete. Maduro enabled the Tren de Aragua gang and other criminal networks that operate at the U.S. border. Dismantling his narco-state removes a major source of fentanyl and cocaine flowing into American communities. Over 7 million Venezuelans fled Maduro’s regime—the largest displacement crisis in Latin America. They strained Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, with hundreds of thousands eventually reaching the U.S. southern border. Ending the cause of this exodus helps everyone, including those who oppose intervention on principle.
The geopolitical gains matter too. Russia loses a military foothold in Latin America—arms deals and outposts that threatened U.S. interests now collapse without their patron. China’s debt-for-oil schemes and infrastructure projects in Venezuela disappear, blocking Beijing’s resource extraction strategy. Iran’s oil swaps, weapons technology transfers, and sanctions-evasion networks in the hemisphere weaken without Maduro as intermediary.
Venezuela itself can now recover. Maduro’s corruption destroyed the country’s oil production, which fell from 2.5 million barrels daily to under one million. Sanctions relief and American investment could restore that capacity and return wealth to Venezuelans.
Maduro will face trial in the Southern District of New York, where the indictment was issued. The Justice Department expects proceedings to begin within ninety days. This moves the operation from dramatic raid to serious legal process—reinforcing that this was law enforcement, not adventurism.
This wasn’t meddling. It was precision enforcement of American law against a narco-terrorist who poisoned both countries. Venezuela has a chance at revival. America has removed a security threat. And autocrats everywhere just learned that no palace provides immunity from justice.
