By U.S. military forces carried out a large-scale operation inside Venezuela early Saturday, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and removing them from the country, according to statements from the Trump administration. The couple was taken into U.S. custody and is now en route to New York, where they are expected to face federal charges.
Details of the operation have not been fully disclosed, but administration officials characterized it as a decisive action against what they described as an illegitimate and repressive regime. The operation marks one of the most dramatic U.S. interventions in Latin America in decades, and has already triggered sharp political reactions at home.
Maduro is expected to face federal charges in New York related to narco-terrorism and alleged threats to U.S. national security, according to the administration.
Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 3, 2026
Those political reactions have been especially pronounced among Democrats, who have split between celebrating what many around the world—and inside Venezuela—view as a long-overdue removal of an authoritarian ruler, and condemning the operation largely because it was ordered by President Donald Trump.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), whose district includes a large Venezuelan-American population, praised the development in a post on X.
The arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, whose criminal activity and destructive, brutal rule drove his nation into endless pain and poverty, was long overdue. I share my Venezuelan American constituents’ hope that his arrest will allow for a swift, democratic transition…
— Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) January 3, 2026
She framed the operation as a potential turning point for the country, adding: “This action offers beleaguered Venezuelans a chance to seat their true, democratically elected president, Edmundo González.”
At the same time, Wasserman Schultz cautioned that Maduro’s removal alone would not guarantee democratic stability. She argued that “cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows,” warning that Venezuela will require sustained international pressure and internal reform to prevent authoritarian relapse.
Her position stood in stark contrast to that of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a prominent figure on the party’s progressive left. Mamdani has previously stated that he supports the arrest of the prime minister of Israel on international charges—an assertion that has drawn national attention and controversy. Critics argue that his opposition to the Maduro operation reflects a broader ideological framework in which U.S. military force is rejected even against authoritarian leaders, while foreign officials aligned with American allies are treated as legitimate targets for prosecution.
This guy said he’d arrest the duly elected leader of a democratic ally https://t.co/kBOCgu3tub
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 3, 2026
Occupying a different lane altogether was Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Meeks raised concerns about the legal authority underpinning the operation and warned that unilateral military action could complicate diplomatic relationships across the Western Hemisphere, even as he acknowledged Maduro’s long record of repression and disputed elections.
Taken together, the responses highlighted a party struggling to articulate a coherent foreign-policy doctrine—caught between progressive rhetoric that often excuses or minimizes authoritarian regimes, hostility toward American allies, and a reflexive opposition to U.S. military action.
As Maduro is transported to the United States and international reaction continues to build, Democrats remain in disarray, underscoring a party that struggles to articulate any unifying belief beyond opposition to its political adversaries.
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