The United States is to run the affairs of Venezuela in the interim after American troops yesterday invaded the country and seized President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia.
The couple were ripped from bed while asleep.
They were subsequently flown to Washington DC to await trial for Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.
The United Nations (UN) and many allies and antagonists of the US were alarmed by Washington’s capture of the president of a sovereign country.
Democrats in the US Congress were outraged by the development which they branded illegal and unconstitutional.
They accused Trump of by passing the legislature by waging war on another country.
The influential New York Times took a similar position, calling it illegal and unwise in an editorial.
Venezuela’s defence minister Vladimir López accused the US of “criminal military aggression” against his country.
López, who spoke in a video shared on social media, described the attack as “the most criminal military aggression by the US government in North America”.
But the ouster of Maduro seems to be good news to Venezuelans who had fled their country following the security challenge and economic hardship at home.
President Donald Trump told reporters yesterday that his administration would take over Venezuela to ensure a judicious transition.
“We can’t take a chance if someone else takes over Venezeula that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind,” he said.
“We’re not going to let that happen.”
He didn’t specify how long the US would stay in Venezeula.
“We’re going to run it, essentially,” he said.
The Maduros were captured by a unit of elite Delta Force soldiers while they slept in their beds.
The operation took place in five Venezuelan sites including three in the country’s capital Caracas.
Although the US authorities said no one died in the operation, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab said ‘innocents’ had been ‘mortally wounded’ by the US troops.
On their arrival in the US, the Maduros were taken to the USS Iwo Jima assault ship pending their transfer to New York City.
Trump called the operation ‘brilliant’ and said he had watched it live.
He even shared a photo of Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima on social media.
In the image Maduro wore blackout goggles and a grey sweatshirt.
He also appeared to be strapped to a flotation device and held a water bottle.
In the days leading up to the invasion, the US had readied military vessels, aircraft and personnel around Venezuela.
In an apparent move to patch up with the White House, Maduro on Thursday issued a plea for peace to the United States.
“The American people should know they have a friendly, peaceful people here, and a friendly government as well,” he said in an interview with a Spanish journalist.
He added: “they should know that our message is very clear: ‘Not War. Yes Peace’”, and offered to work with the US to curtail drug trafficking.
Trump had accused Maduro and his government of conspiring to flood the United States with illegal drugs.
In 2020, during his first term in office as president Trump indicted Maduro on charges of importing cocaine into the US and offered a $15million reward for his arrest at the time.
The reward went up to $25million during the final days of former President Joe Biden’s administration and rose $50million in August 2025 after Trump began his second term as president.
Trump alleges Maduro is leader of a drug running organization called Cartel de los Soles and has designated the group a foreign terrorist organization.
In his final public act as President, Maduro on Friday received in his Miraflores Palace in Caracas China’s special envoy Qiu Xiaoqi.
Both men reaffirmed bilateral ties amid U.S. pressure.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi in a post on her verified X account @AGPamBondi yesterday said Maduro “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
She said: “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 Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts. On behalf of the entire U.S. DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers.”
UN, Russia, Iran, others kick
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” by the US strikes on Venezuela, which he said could constitute a dangerous precedent.
He said that the rules of international law had not been respected and asked all actors in Venezuela to “engage in inclusive dialogue, in full respect of human rights and the rule of law.”
Russia condemned the “armed aggression” by the United States with the ministry of foreign affairs in Moscow warning that the development risked further destabilising the region.
It said: “The justifications put forward for these actions have no factual basis. Ideological hostility has prevailed over pragmatic, businesslike approaches and over efforts to build relationships based on trust and predictability.
“Under the present circumstances, it is particularly important to prevent any further escalation and focus on seeking a resolution through dialogue.
”We believe that all parties with existing grievances should pursue solutions to their problems by engaging in dialogue. We stand ready to assist in these efforts.”
Russia said Latin America should continue to be treated as a zone of peace, in line with a declaration adopted by countries in the region in 2014 and declared that Venezuela must be allowed to “determine its own future without destructive external interference, particularly of a military nature”.
It expressed political support for the Venezuelan government and people.
Iran which Trump bombed last year spoke along the same line.
The Iranian foreign ministry dubbed the US action a flagrant violation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Venezuela.
China said it was “deeply shocked and strongly condemns the US’s blatant use of force against a sovereign state and its action against its president”.
US neighbor, Mexico, said the development in Venezuela “seriously jeopardises regional stability.”
Trump has also threatened Mexico with military force over drug trafficking.
Venezuela’s southern neighbor, Colombia, called the US action an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America which would lead to a humanitarian crisis while Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva deplored the “serious affront” to Venezuela’s sovereignty.
Cuba, a strong ally of Venezuela’s, denounced “state terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people”.
France similarly condemned the US operation which it said undermined international law.
The United Kingdom,a strong ally of the US said it was not a party to the invasion. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said all countries should “uphold international law.”
The European Union (EU) urged respect for international law although it claimed that Maduro “lacks legitimacy.”
However, Trump got the backing of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who said the US action was both legitimate and defensive.
Spain called for de-escalation and restraint while also offering to mediate in the crisis to find a way to a peaceful solution.
The New York Times, in its editorial, said Maduro’s undemocratic and repressive rule was no justification for the invasion of his country by the US.
“Attempting to oust even the most deplorable regime can make matters worse,” the newspaper said.
It added: “The United States spent 20 years failing to create a stable government in Afghanistan and replaced a dictatorship in Libya with a fractured state. The tragic consequences of the 2003 war in Iraq continue to beset America and the Middle East. Perhaps most relevant, the United States has sporadically destabilized Latin American countries, including Chile, Cuba, Guatemala and Nicaragua, by trying to oust a government through force.
“Mr. Trump has not yet offered a coherent explanation for his actions in Venezuela. He is pushing our country toward an international crisis without valid reasons. If Mr. Trump wants to argue otherwise, the Constitution spells out what he must do: Go to Congress. Without congressional approval, his actions violate U.S. law.
“The nominal rationale for the administration’s military adventurism is to destroy ‘narco-terrorists.’ Governments throughout history have labeled the leaders of rival nations as terrorists, seeking to justify military incursions as policing operations. The claim is particularly ludicrous in this case, given that Venezuela is not a meaningful producer of fentanyl or the other drugs that have dominated the recent epidemic of overdoses in the United States, and the cocaine that it does produce flows mostly to Europe. While Mr. Trump has been attacking Venezuelan boats, he also pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, who ran a sprawling drug operation when he was president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022.”
Former Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti and Professor of International Relations Kayode Soremekun, and Director of Studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Prof. Efem Ubi, condemned the arrest of President Maduro and his wife by the Americans.
Reacting about the arrest in an interview with The Nation, Professor Soremekun said Maduro’s capture “speaks to what can be called the current near unipolarity of the international system.
“This is because such a situation would not have been possible during the Cold War. But I’ve just read the announcement from the Venezuelan authorities, and they went into history to say that they’ve always had to contend with this big neighbour, i.e. Washington.
“And that is, according to them, the latest in the offensives of Washington in what can be called its backyard.
“It is also a reenactment of what can be called the Monroe Doctrine, whereby the U.S. simply sees its neighbours as puppets, as non-entities to be toyed with at will, which is a non-liberal order. Having said that, you also have to appreciate that in recent times, Venezuela has always been disposed towards Cuba, an arch-enemy of Washington. So, this is only to be expected under a post-Cold War warrior like Donald Trump.
“As it is, since in relative terms, there are no dynamics to this kind of offensive from Washington, because in an earlier era, the former Soviet Union would have been saying some things about what has just happened.
“And what it also means is that the only competing power to the United States at the moment, i.e. China, will now be free in relative terms to also annex Taiwan. So, you can see a game of hegemonies on the part of Washington on one hand, and Beijing, that is China, in the potential sense.”
The don argued that what saw with Maduro’s experience also was a relative recession and near-death of multilateral diplomacy, “because in the light of this unilateral offensive from Washington, one begins to ask, where are the United Nations? Where is the NAM, i.e. the Non-Aligned Movement? Where is the OAS, the Organisation of American States?”
On his part Prof. Ubi, described the action of the US as an act of aggression.
“That is undermining of the sovereignty of Venezuela and its territorial integrity. In fact, it has also shown that we need a reform of the United Nations. We actually need a new organisation that will be able to maintain order.
“A country cannot just wake up and now invade another country, capture the president, and take the president to their own country. We cannot continue to live in a world where a single power is depicted, irrespective of the circumstances and irrespective of the international law that is in place.
“They don’t care. All they think about is their interests. If it means crushing heads, even if it means undermining states and their territorial integrity. This is uncalled for.”
Prof. Ubi argued that in the 21st century, the world should begin to think differently.
According to him, the world is reacting that what the United States did was totally wrong.
He added: “I think my take is that we should begin to look for an alternative world order where there can be justice, there can be equity, there can be respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and not for just one power to rise up and determine what should be in the international order. And so, multipolarity still stands out in our thinking of a new world order. Multilateralism also stands in terms of our engagement with the international community.
“Let the people of Venezuela be the ones to change the regime, and not for you to come tease the President by taking him to the United States. This is uncalled for.”
