Operation Absolute Resolve: US Military Captures President Maduro in Venezuela

On January 3, 2026, US Special Operations forces launched Operation Absolute Resolve against Venezuela. Over 150 aircraft participated in strikes that disabled Venezuelan air defenses before a Delta Force team raided President Nicolás Maduro's compound in Caracas. Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured and transported to New York to face federal charges of narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, and weapons offenses. The Venezuelan Interior Ministry reported over 100 people killed in the operation; seven US service members were injured. The operation—the most direct US military intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama—was condemned by Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Spain as a violation of the UN Charter's prohibition on the use of force. The Trump administration characterized Maduro as a 'narco-terrorist' whose removal was necessary to protect US national security, following years of escalating economic sanctions and the 2019 recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's 'interim president.'