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The news that United States forces have captured Nicolás Maduro in a pre-dawn operation on January 3, 2026 is nothing short of seismic — and it should be celebrated by every American who has watched our southern neighbor suffer under a corrupt, narco-criminal regime. After years of empty rhetoric and sanctions that barely scratched the surface, action finally met words, and the man who helped turn Venezuela into a narco-state found himself removed from power.
The operation, reportedly codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve, involved concentrated strikes to disable air defenses and a precision apprehension that brought Maduro and his inner circle into U.S. custody in a matter of hours. This was not a sloppy stunt but a coordinated mission that showed America still possesses the will and capability to go after the bad actors who threaten our safety and our hemisphere.
U.S. prosecutors have not been shy about why this happened: Maduro and his cronies now face serious narco-terrorism and weapons charges that connect them directly to the cartel networks peddling fentanyl and misery into American communities. For too long the criminal enterprise running Venezuela enriched itself while Venezuelan citizens starved; bringing these people to justice in a U.S. court is the kind of law-and-order outcome patriots demanded.
Venezuelan patriots on the ground welcomed the news, with opposition leaders calling the capture an “hour of freedom” and urging a genuine transition to democracy. Those voices matter, and conservatives should stand with them — not with the international elites who reflexively defend dictators because it fits their narrative against American strength. This moment is a chance to put real power back in the hands of Venezuelans who want liberty and prosperity.
Predictably, the usual suspects in academia and global institutions rushed to condemn the operation as unlawful, invoking the UN Charter and other legal niceties as if the trafficking of tons of cocaine and the deliberate export of chaos to our streets were abstract hypotheticals. Legal debate will follow, but let no one forget that defending American families from cartels and holding tyrants accountable is a moral imperative that transcends the handwringing of foreign policy elites.
Now the hard work begins: securing a stable transition, eliminating the cartel networks, and helping the Venezuelan people rebuild their economy — ideally with American industry and oversight so the oil riches benefit the people, not kleptocrats. Conservatives should demand clarity, insist on accountability, and back a strategy that protects our borders while supporting democratic reform in Caracas. Maduro is the big loser today, and every American who loves liberty should make sure his fall leads to lasting freedom, not another power grab.
