In a move that shocked the international community, US forces arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas and transported them to New York to face criminal charges. Following the operation, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would temporarily take control of Venezuela until a safe and orderly transition could be arranged.
“We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort. “We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela who doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.”
Temporary US Administration
Trump said the country would be managed by a designated group, pointing to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine. Despite repeated questions, the president provided few concrete details about how this interim administration would operate.
At one point, Trump claimed Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, had been sworn in as Maduro’s successor and was willing to cooperate with US plans. However, Venezuelan authorities have not confirmed any such swearing-in. Trump also emphasized the role of US companies in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, describing it as “billions of dollars” in investment to repair the country’s damaged energy sector.
Legal Justifications and Political Fallout
US Secretary of State Rubio defended the operation as a law enforcement action supported by the military, stating that Congressional approval was not required. He noted that Maduro had been indicted in 2020 and described him as a fugitive from American justice with a $50 million reward on his head. Trump suggested that Congress had not been notified to prevent leaks.
The announcement sparked swift criticism from Democrats. Senator Mark Warner warned that the operation set a dangerous international precedent. “If the United States claims the right to invade and capture foreign leaders it accuses of criminal conduct, what prevents China from making the same claim over Taiwan or Russia doing the same in Ukraine?” he said. Warner also highlighted what he described as hypocrisy in the Trump administration’s approach, contrasting the Venezuela operation with Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been convicted of serious drug trafficking charges.
Support and Risks Ahead
Republicans, however, praised the operation. Senator Roger Wicker called it a “successful mission” and said the arrest capped months of efforts to weaken criminal networks linked to Maduro’s government. “The Venezuelan people must now act swiftly to put their country back on a path to peace and prosperity,” Wicker added.
Analysts, however, caution that the operation could destabilize Venezuela further. Daniel DePetris, a fellow at Defense Priorities, said the country could face military splits, the rise of criminal groups, civil war, or the emergence of a new autocrat. “Whether that change will be positive or negative in the long term remains to be seen,” he said. DePetris also questioned the administration’s shifting justifications for the intervention, noting that Venezuela’s economy is deeply weakened and its government arguably poses less of a threat than portrayed.
