U.S. strikes Venezuela, captures President Maduro, sends him to New York for trial.
Following previous reports from The Introspective detailing tensions with Venezuela, conflict reached a boiling point after the U.S. launched airstrikes in Caracas—the country’s capital—and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, sending them to New York to face drug and weapons charges nearly a year after President Trump declared the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua a “foreign terrorist organization.”
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country,” Trump announced on Truth Social.
“This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.”
Trump later said the U.S. will govern Venezuela until a peaceful transition of power occurs, raising implications about the unprecedented event.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a news conference Saturday.
“We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.”
He also said the U.S. will control the country’s oil reserves, allowing American companies into Venezuela and using U.S. soldiers for security.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies—the biggest anywhere in the world—go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” Trump said, adding that it will not cost the U.S. any additional money to govern the Latin American country.
“The money coming out of the ground is very substantial.”
In an X post, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro would face “the full wrath of American justice.”
“On behalf of the entire U.S. DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American people, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers,” she wrote.
Maduro has since arrived at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, New York, on Saturday, as he and his wife face charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses.
Madruo Indictment
Reactions in the United States
The actions in Venezuela brought a polarized response, with many Republicans supporting Maduro’s capture.
“Today’s military action in Venezuela was a decisive and justified operation that will protect American lives,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on Facebook.
“Nicolas Maduro is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans after years of trafficking illegal drugs and violent cartel members into our country—crimes for which he’s been properly indicted in U.S. courts and an arrest warrant duly issued—and today he learned what accountability looks like,” he continued.
“President Trump is putting American lives first, succeeding where others have failed, and under his leadership the United States will no longer allow criminal regimes to profit from wreaking havoc and destruction on our country.”
This comes after a highly contested election in 2024, in which Maduro won a third consecutive term despite opposition leader Edmundo González winning the most votes. Other members of the opposition, such as María Corina Machado—who later won a Nobel Peace Prize—went into hiding following Maduro’s win.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in a statement.
“In addition, the United States rejects Maduro’s unsubstantiated allegations against opposition leaders. Maduro and his representatives’ threats to arrest opposition leaders, including Edmundo González and María Corina Machado, are an undemocratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed support for the actions in Venezuela, stating that Trump’s actions were taken “through the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant.”
“President Trump’s decisive action to disrupt the unacceptable status quo and apprehend Maduro, through the execution of a valid Department of Justice warrant, is an important first step to bring him to justice for the drug crimes for which he has been indicted in the United States,” he wrote on X.
However, some Republicans criticized the action, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene questioning the Trump administration’s decision.
“Mexican cartels are primarily and overwhelmingly responsible for killing Americans with deadly drugs,” Greene wrote on X.
“If U.S. military action and regime change in Venezuela was really about saving American lives from deadly drugs, then why hasn’t the Trump admin taken action against Mexican cartels?” she continued.
“Regime change, funding foreign wars, and Americans’ tax dollars being consistently funneled to foreign causes, foreigners both home and abroad, and foreign governments while Americans are consistently facing increasing costs of living, housing, health care, and learning about scams and fraud involving their tax dollars is what has most Americans enraged—especially the younger generations. Boomers and half of Gen X will cheer on neocon wars and talking points, but the other half of Gen X and the majority on down see through it and hate it,” she added.
“Americans’ disgust with our own government’s never-ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it, and both parties—Republicans and Democrats—always keep the Washington military machine funded and going.”
Rep. Thomas Massie further criticized Trump’s actions, writing that the indictment had “no mention of fentanyl or stolen oil.”
“If this action were constitutionally sound, the attorney general wouldn’t be tweeting that they’ve arrested the president of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing guns in violation of a 1934 U.S. firearm law,” he wrote on X.
However, Rep. Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the operation “another win to protect our homeland and clean up the backyard of the United States.”
“Drug lords and terrorists will no longer operate freely in our hemisphere, and drugs and illegals will not flow into our country,” he wrote on X.
“Thank God, the American military is positioned off American shores to protect the people of the United States of America!”
Among Democrats, many criticized the move to capture Maduro, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying the administration had previously “assured” him that action in Venezuela would not be taken.
“The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans. The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price,” he said in a press release.
“The administration must brief Congress immediately on its objectives and its plan to prevent a humanitarian and geopolitical disaster that plunges us into another endless war or one that trades one corrupt dictator for another.”
He later accused the administration of distracting from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal involving the late child sex offender who died in 2019.
“To distract from skyrocketing costs Americans face and the historic cover-up of the Epstein files, Donald Trump is attempting to throw Americans into more international chaos and uncertainty,” he said.
Sen. Tim Kaine criticized the Trump administration in a press release, calling the move in Venezuela “unauthorized.”
“Where will this go next? Will the president deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal? To suppress Americans peacefully assembling to protest his policies?” he wrote.
“Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from the people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk,” he added.
“It is long past time for Congress to reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy and trade. My bipartisan resolution stipulating that we should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization will come up for a vote next week. We’ve entered the 250th year of American democracy and cannot allow it to devolve into the tyranny that our founders fought to escape.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called the move in Venezuela an “illegal regime change abroad” and claimed the Trump administration’s airstrikes “violate international law and dangerously escalate the possibility of full-scale war.”
“The illegal actions by the Trump administration have nothing to do with defending the Venezuelan people; they are solely about oil and power,” he wrote on X.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote on X that she stands with the state’s “vibrant Venezuelan community” while accusing Trump of a “flagrant abuse of power by acting without congressional approval.”
“While there are no credible threats to New York at this time, State Police are coordinating with our partners in law enforcement to monitor the situation and keep New Yorkers safe,” Hochul wrote.
Following the airstrikes in Venezuela, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily restricted airspace across the Caribbean, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy saying it was done to “ensure the safety” of the public.
“When appropriate, these airspace restrictions will be lifted. Please work with your airlines directly if your flight has been impacted,” he wrote on X.
Delta Airlines later resumed flights to the Caribbean on Saturday night, as protests condemning the move in Venezuela spread nationwide.
Reactions in Venezuela
In a letter posted to X, opposition leader María Corina Machado praised Nicolás Maduro’s capture, writing that “The time for freedom has come!”
“Nicolás Maduro from today will face international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations. Given his refusal to accept a negotiated solution, the United States government has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law,” Machado wrote, as translated by The Introspective.
“The time has come for popular sovereignty and national sovereignty to prevail in our country. We are going to restore order, release the political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home,” she continued.
“Today we are ready to assert our mandate and take power. Let us remain vigilant, active, and organized until the democratic transition is complete—a transition that needs ALL of us.”
However, Delcy Rodríguez—who was sworn in as interim president—criticized the United States in a televised address, calling Maduro’s capture an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to protest.
“We are determined to be free,” she said.
“What is being done to Venezuela is a barbarity.”
She later accused Trump of attempting a “regime change.”
“We had already warned that an aggression was underway under false excuses and false pretenses, and that the masks had fallen off, revealing only one objective: regime change in Venezuela,” she added.
“This regime change would also allow for the seizure of our energy, mineral and natural resources. This is the true objective, and the world and the international community must know it.”
This comes as many Venezuelans abroad celebrated Maduro’s capture, with Khaty Yanez, a Venezuelan woman who has lived in Chile for the past seven years, expressing her joy.
“We are free. We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we have a free country,” she told Reuters.
Many Venezuelans online celebrated Maduro’s capture while criticizing many Americans’ reactions to the strikes.
“No privileged ass can ruin this for me,” wrote user @theodioso, a Venezuelan who now lives in Chicago, on X.
“This is Venezuelan’s happiest day in 20 years.”
In another post, he emphasized that he was celebrating the end of a dictatorship in Venezuela regardless of Trump’s actions.
“This is not about trump at all idc who tf did it I’m celebrating the end of 25 years of dictatorship in my country you have no idea what ive been through STFU,” he added.
Another user, @itsthatgigi, said there was a divide between what the media was saying and Venezuelans’ lived experience.
“As someone from Venezuela whose family has endured over two decades of dictatorship, poverty, and brutal hyperinflation, this entire framing feels disconnected—almost absurd—from what we’ve actually lived,” she wrote.
“Referring to Nicolás Maduro as the ‘President of Venezuela’ misses the point entirely. He didn’t win power—he hijacked it. His regime has been marked by documented electoral fraud, suppression of dissent, jailing of political rivals, and the weaponization of military force to cling to control. That’s tyranny,” she continued.
“International law should serve to protect citizens and uphold democratic principles, not be twisted into a shield for dictators. When national institutions are rotted through, courts are puppets, and peaceful change is off the table, then external accountability is the last hope,” she added.
“Today, President Trump changed that, and for that, many of us feel a long overdue sense of gratitude.”
This follows a report from the United Nations highlighting that 20% of Venezuelans—7.7 million people—have left the country due to economic instability.
International Reactions
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasized continued discussions with the United States regarding Venezuela’s potential transition to democracy.
“The U.K. has long supported a transition of power in Venezuela. We regarded Maduro as an illegitimate president, and we shed no tears about the end of his regime,” he wrote on X.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel criticized the United States’ actions as “criminal” and called for an “urgent” reaction from the international community.
“Homeland or Death! We will overcome!” he wrote on X.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she “strongly condemns and rejects” the actions in Venezuela.
“Members of the organization shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations,” she wrote on X.
French President Emmanuel Macron emphasized a peaceful transition during the unprecedented moment.
“The upcoming transition must be peaceful, democratic, and respectful of the will of the Venezuelan people. We wish that President Edmundo González Urrutia, elected in 2024, can swiftly ensure this transition,” he wrote.
China’s Foreign Ministry said the country was “deeply shocked” and “strongly condemns” the U.S. actions in Venezuela.
“Such hegemonic acts of the U.S. seriously violate international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty, and threaten peace and security in Latin America and the Caribbean region. China firmly opposes it,” the ministry wrote on X.
“We call on the U.S. to abide by international law and the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, and stop violating other countries’ sovereignty and security.”
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