Nicolas Maduro could have left like Bashar al-Assad. Instead, he chose the Manuel Noriega option – an option he apparently never considered.
Overnight, Donald Trump ordered special forces into Caracas, backed by strikes on Venezuela security assets, and captured Maduro and his wife. Trump announced the capture on Truth Social, along with a presser to be held in a couple of hours:
The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow. There will be a News Conference today at 11 A.M., at Mar-a-Lago. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
The announcement came shortly after John's overnight post, when news of the attack on Caracas first emerged. At the time, John noted that "no one knows where Maduro is," which apparently was almost literally true. The Venezeulans at that time had no idea that Maduro and his wife had been captured and removed.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Delta Force carried out an "arrest" of the Maduros, assisted by the same unit that transported the SEALs into Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden:
The U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was carried out by the Army’s elite Delta Force and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers, according to current and former officials.
Delta is a secret special-operations unit tasked with capturing or eliminating high-value targets. The Night Stalkers, which flew Navy SEALs to Abbottabad, Pakistan for the 2011 covert mission to kill Osama Bin Laden, conducts low-altitude aviation missions, often with Delta Force or Navy Seals. They fly modified Chinook, Black Hawk and Little Bird helicopters, according to the Army.
The Night Stalkers had been training near Venezuela for months. A significant number of assets from the 160th were used in the mission, one of the U.S. officials said.
This went far easier than the operation to capture Noriega. 1989's Operation Nifty Package stretched out for more than a week after Noriega hid in the Vatican's diplomatic facilities. The US Army had to use psychological and diplomatic pressure to force Noriega into surrendering. Noriega served time in the US, France, and finally in Panama before dying 22 years later while still in custody in Panama City.
The Maduros are about to experience the Noriega track, although not without controversy. Democrats in Congress have already objected to the operation, but both Marco Rubio and Pam Bondi have announced that the Maduros face a fresh criminal indictment in New York. The operation was a lawful arrest, they claim:
What they're saying: Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who initially expressed skepticism about the legal basis for the strikes, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed him in a phone call that they were to "protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant."
- Maduro will "stand trial on criminal charges in the United States" and Rubio "anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody," said Lee, who said the action "likely" falls within Trump's authority under Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
- Some Republicans were quick to praise the move, with Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), one of Congress' most vocal critics of the Maduro regime, saying in a statement: "While others dithered, President Trump recognized this threat for what it is and acted with resolve."
- Democrats blasted the action, though; Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said it sent a "horrible and disturbing signal" to other world leaders.
Between the lines: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Axios he spoke to President Trump last night before the operation.
- "He has been very clear that he believes there is a drug caliphate in our back yard that need to be taken out. The operation has been formulating for the last couple of weeks," Graham said.
The "drug caliphate" is an established fact. Both Maduro and Hugo Chavez have allowed Hezbollah to operate openly in Venezuela, profiting off of both drugs and black-market oil exports. Some of the strikes likely aimed at Hezbollah assets as well as Venezuelan security positions, and more will come in the days ahead. This has been known for years, and has been the subject of serious security concerns for the US as well as other nations in the Western Hemisphere
What about the charges? Pam Bondi gave a preview on X:
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” she wrote on social media, after President Donald Trump said the United States had captured the couple during strikes against Venezuela.
Maduro faces charges including narco-terrorism, cocaine-trafficking conspiracy and weapons offenses stemming from a long-running federal case in New York.
For those objecting, the Noriega precedent makes this much less of a surprise. Additionally, Barack Obama advanced that precedent with his weeks-long campaign to depose Moammar Qaddafi in 2011 under the "responsibility to protect" rubric when Qaddafi was actually cooperating with the US against terror networks. Democrats can sputter all they want, but this is not unprecedented.
Get ready for the sputtering nonetheless. And stay tuned for the reaction in Moscow, Beijing, and especially Tehran.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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