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The United States pulled off an audacious operation in early January that removed Nicolás Maduro from power and put him in U.S. custody — a decisive action that sent a clear message across the hemisphere about who will and will not traffic drugs and destabilize our neighborhoods. President Trump’s men executed a precision mission that culminated in Maduro being flown to New York to face charges, a development that changes the conversation from moralizing to results.
Maduro and his wife made a first court appearance in Manhattan and pleaded not guilty as federal prosecutors prepare a sweeping case that alleges years of narcotics trafficking and corruption under his rule. The spectacle in federal court was unavoidable proof that lawlessness will meet accountability when American resolve is on display, and it undercuts the tired argument that the U.S. is above using force in defense of its citizens.
Washington didn’t just grab Maduro and walk away — the Trump team has already told Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, what must happen next if she hopes to avoid the same fate as her predecessor. Officials have demanded a crackdown on drug flows, the expulsion of Iranian, Cuban, and other hostile operatives, and a halt to oil sales to U.S. adversaries — reasonable, hard-nosed conditions that protect American security and put sober requirements on anyone who would run Caracas.
Veterans of our foreign policy, like Mike Pompeo, have urged the administration to keep ratcheting up pressure and not let the moment slip into a charade of diplomacy while narco-regimes continue business as usual. That kind of relentless posture is what finally broke the choke-hold Maduro had on his people and his resources, and it’s exactly the approach patriotic Americans expect when the safety of our homeland is at stake.
Yes, there is righteous hand-wringing from the usual international suspects and U.N. officials — predictably quick to lecture America while leaving our streets to suffer the consequences of drugs shipped from regimes they protect. But the cold fact is the operation cost lives among the regime’s security forces and foreign operatives, and the world must reckon with a brutal reality: sometimes force is the only language tyrants understand.
Now comes the hard part: turning victory into a sustainable outcome. Washington must insist that any successor government actually opens Venezuela to free and fair elections, returns stolen assets, hands over criminal networks to justice, and cooperates on drug interdiction — not give Chavez-era thugs a new name and a new lease. If the U.S. backs reconstruction, it should be conditional, transparent, and tied to verifiable reforms that put Venezuelans back in charge of their destiny and American companies and workers ahead of hostile foreign powers.
Patriots should cheer this moment but stay vigilant: the left’s moralizing will blur into cover for appeasement unless Congress and the administration keep a hard line. Support the brave Venezuelans yearning for liberty, demand accountability from any interim leaders, and insist that American strength be used to protect our borders, our energy security, and the rule of law — because freedom for others has never harmed freedom here at home.
