“Maduro and his representatives have continued their violent repression in an attempt to maintain power and have ignored the Venezuelan people’s calls … for democratic accountability.”—United States Treasury Department
This was an extremely eventful week, as President Donald J. Trump ordered the capture of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on January 4. Through a combination of Special Forces operators and the coordination of air, land, and sea assets, Maduro was arrested, charged, and is expected to be tried on “narco-terrorism” charges.
“Operation Absolute Resolve” was launched thirty-seven years after “Operation Just Cause,” the mission to overthrow Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, who was convicted of politically supporting massive drug trafficking operations.
From bases in the United States, the Caribbean Sea, and aboard aircraft carriers, military planners secretly worked on what was described as a precisely executed mission to apprehend Maduro. Since August, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) closely monitored the movements of Maduro, his family, and key allies. The CIA also reportedly had a mole within the government who provided critical information on Maduro’s daily schedule, helping pinpoint his exact location on the night of the operation.
The mission involved elite U.S. special operations troops that rehearsed the raid using a full-scale replica of Maduro’s compound. Before the ground assault, U.S. aircraft conducted strikes on Venezuelan defenses and air bases to clear the way, and cyber and intelligence operations helped maintain tactical surprise. During the pre-dawn assault the special forces breached the compound under fire, intercepted Maduro before he could reach a safe room, and took him and his wife into custody. The operation involved extensive coordination across air, ground, and intelligence elements and was executed with the element of surprise to minimize American casualties. Once captured, Maduro was transported first to a U.S. Navy ship and then flown to the United States to face federal charges in a New York courtroom.
In 2020, the U.S. Department of State placed a $15 million bounty on Maduro’s arrest, which was increased to $25 million by 2025. Now being held in a New York City jail, many Americans remain unfamiliar with this socialist leader’s alleged involvement in facilitating large-scale drug trafficking operations that enriched his family and inner circle. This former “de facto but illegitimate” ruler was born into a poor family in 1962, with some accounts claiming that Maduro was born in Colombia. He lived with three siblings in a two-bedroom apartment in southern Caracas, while his father was active in a local labor union. Leaving school early, Maduro was an average student whose family gravitated toward leftist ideology. He later worked as a bus driver before shifting toward more radical politics and was sent by the Socialist League to Cuba for revolutionary training through the Union of Young Communists.
Despite Venezuela’s immense oil reserves, the country faced crushing debt in the late 1980s that crippled its economy. The government owed $33 billion in foreign debt and was forced to accept an International Monetary Fund bailout, which further worsened conditions. Rising prices fueled unrest, and as Hugo Chávez emerged as a dominant figure, he launched a failed coup in 1992 with Maduro’s assistance. Major riots erupted in Caracas over fuel prices and economic reforms.
The government responded with extreme force, officially killing 275 people, though socialist opposition groups estimated the toll closer to 3,000. Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement-200 gained momentum, inspired by Simón Bolívar’s vision of a unified South America resistant to outside “imperial” powers. Chávez became president in 1999, rewrote the constitution to consolidate authority, and saw Maduro rise within socialist organizations. Maduro rejected unfavorable election results and never embraced democratic norms. In 2002, a failed coup targeted the Chávez regime, followed by a massive oil workers’ strike in 2004.
Chávez expanded social programs in education, health care, food, and housing. While these initiatives reduced poverty, Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy—accounting for 90 percent of exports—could not sustain the spending. Despite holding an estimated 303 billion barrels of oil, more than Saudi Arabia, mismanagement led to declining production. Subsidized oil was sent to Cuba, China, and neighboring countries, while underinvestment in refining reduced output. Chávez’s vision of solving social problems through government intervention achieved short-term gains but ultimately led to economic collapse.
By 2012, Chávez had undergone multiple cancer surgeries and appointed Maduro as vice president and successor. After Chávez’s death in 2013, Maduro narrowly won a contested election. A hardened socialist, Maduro viewed the United States as a direct threat, expelled diplomats, and accused Washington of sabotage. As the economy collapsed, Maduro ordered massive currency printing, triggering hyperinflation.
Over the past thirteen years, Venezuela’s GDP fell by nearly 80 percent, while inflation surged by an estimated 65,000 percent. The United Nations estimates that 7.9 million Venezuelans have been displaced across Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Roughly 2,000 people leave the country daily, with nearly three million living in Colombia. Many fled due to violence, food shortages, lack of medicine, failing infrastructure, and the rise of criminal gangs.
Under President Joseph Biden, Americans witnessed the spread of Venezuelan gangs such as Tren de Aragua, including reports of gang members occupying apartment buildings in Colorado. The gang was also linked to the killing of two New York City police officers and a Venezuelan law enforcement official in Florida.
Maduro claimed victory in widely disputed elections in 2018 and 2024, while opposition leaders asserted that Edmundo González Urrutia was the rightful president. Since 2019, more than fifty countries have refused to recognize Maduro’s legitimacy.
Both the Chávez and Maduro regimes aligned with major drug cartels that allegedly trafficked tons of cocaine into the United States and conducted money laundering operations. Maduro also reportedly supplied weapons to Colombia’s FARC, a designated terrorist organization. These actions led the Southern District of New York in 2020 to charge Maduro with narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking conspiracies, and weapons distribution. The future trial of Maduro, and Venezuela’s potential redevelopment, are expected to draw significant global attention.