The capture of Nicolás Maduro by American forces, last Saturday (the 3rd), opened a geopolitical crisis of major proportions. The operation, authorized by President Donald Trump, combines direct military action, narcotrafficking prosecutions, and an explicit contest over Venezuela’s political and energy future. The following are the main points to understand the episode.
The military operation and the capture of Maduro
The American offensive was described as the largest U.S. intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama. Special forces arrived in Caracas by helicopter, breached the presidential security perimeter, and captured Maduro at the door of a secure room, before he could take refuge in a bunker.
The action included airstrikes in strategic areas of the capital and other states, with reports of deaths among Venezuelan security personnel. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were removed from the country and taken to the United States, where they are held in Brooklyn.
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The operation included airstrikes and ground incursions in Caracas and in strategic states such as Miranda, La Guaira, and Aragua. According to Washington, military targets and power systems were hit before Maduro’s departure from the country.
Prison in the US and criminal charges
Maduro is expected to appear before a federal court in Manhattan on Monday (the 5th), to respond to charges of narcoterrorism, international cocaine trafficking, criminal conspiracy, and association with armed organizations.
According to American prosecutors, he would have headed for decades a state-run drug trafficking network, in partnership with Mexican cartels such as Sinaloa and Zetas, Colombian guerrilla groups from FARC, and the Venezuelan faction Tren de Aragua.
If convicted, he could face sentences ranging from decades in prison to life imprisonment. The former Venezuelan leader denies all the charges.
The Washington justification and the “Donroe Doctrine”
President Donald Trump confirmed the operation and presented what he called the “Donroe Doctrine,” in direct reference to the Monroe Doctrine. The president stated that the U.S. is “in command” and did not rule out further attacks if Venezuela does not cooperate with the opening of the oil sector and with the fight against narcotrafficking.
He also warned Colombia, Mexico, and Cuba, suggesting that other countries could be targets of similar actions. For Trump, Maduro’s capture also responds to Venezuelan migration flows and the historical disputes involving the nationalization of American oil interests.
Who governs Venezuela now
After Maduro’s capture, the Venezuelan Supreme Court recognized Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as interim president. The Armed Forces declared support for the transition and for the decree of “external agitation,” which expands the Executive’s powers in a context of conflict.
Having denounced Maduro’s capture as kidnapping and a colonial appropriation of oil, the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, shifted tone on Sunday, saying that it was a priority to maintain respectful relations with Washington.
“We invite the U.S. government to work together on a development-oriented cooperation agenda within the framework of international law to strengthen the enduring coexistence of the community,” Rodríguez said. “President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”
Daughter of a leftist guerrilla fighter, Rodríguez, 56, has been a firm and outspoken member of the chavista movement — named after the late Hugo Chávez — which earned her praise from Maduro as a “tigress.”
But she is also known as a pragmatic figure with good connections in the private sector and a belief in economic orthodoxy. Many Venezuelans know her for the luxury clothes she likes to wear.
It is not clear how the U.S. would work with a post-Maduro government, filled with sworn ideological enemies. He appears to have sidelined, for now, the Venezuelan opposition, in which many anti-Maduro activists had hoped this would be their moment.
The role of oil in the crisis
Although he has denounced Maduro as a dictator and head of drug trafficking who flooded the U.S. with cocaine, Trump did not hide that he wishes to seize a portion of Venezuela’s oil wealth.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at about 303 billion barrels. Trump stated that he intends to “recover” assets and open the sector to American companies.
Today, Venezuelan production runs around 800 thousand to 1.1 million barrels per day, well below the historical peak.
The instability arising from the invasion could affect supply, while in the long term opening to foreign capital could put pressure on global prices.
International reaction and debate at the UN
The offensive sparked global consternation. The United Nations Security Council is set to discuss the legality and implications of capturing a foreign head of state.
Russia, China, and leftist allies of Venezuela condemned the action for violating international law. Cuba stated that 32 of its military personnel and intelligence agents died during the incursion.
U.S. allies adopted a more cautious stance, calling for dialogue and respect for international norms, without openly condemning the U.S. Experts assess that, thanks to American veto power, it is unlikely that there will be a condemnatory resolution.
Regional impacts and security risks
The crisis inaugurates a new level of instability in South America. It is not clear how the U.S. intends to deal with a post-Maduro government formed largely by ideological allies of chavismo, nor what space the Venezuelan opposition will have, which was sidelined from the process.
Analysts see a risk of prolonged military tension, impact on energy markets, and weakening of non-intervention norms.
For the region, the episode represents a turning point, in which disputes over strategic resources, migration, and security begin to guide U.S. foreign policy more explicitly.
