The news that U.S. forces captured Venezuela’s embattled dictator Nicolás Maduro in a daring operation on January 3, 2026 stunned the world and vindicated years of hardline pressure from conservatives who refused to normalize his criminal regime. Elite American units carried out a precision mission in Caracas that removed Maduro and his wife from power and delivered them to U.S. custody, a move that will be debated in diplomatic circles but cheered by millions who suffered under socialist misrule.
This was not a slapdash raid; it was reportedly codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve and involved coordinated strikes and Special Forces rehearsals to take down a fortified stronghold that had long enriched itself through criminal networks. U.S. planners, including intelligence assets and special-operations teams, executed the plan with professional discipline — the kind of decisive action sorely missing from American foreign policy in recent years.
Maduro and his wife were flown to the United States and arrived in New York state, where they now face serious federal charges including narco-terrorism and cocaine conspiracy allegations that Americans were warned about for years. Bringing him to face justice in U.S. courts sends a clear message: there are consequences for turning a nation into a criminal enterprise and exporting misery across our southern border.
Let’s be blunt — for too long the international left and global elites made excuses for tyrants while ordinary people paid the price. This operation is the kind of unapologetic, muscular stance conservatives have argued for: protecting American security, holding transnational criminals accountable, and standing with oppressed Venezuelans yearning for liberty and prosperity.
Predictably, establishment internationalists and think tanks have howled about sovereignty and international law, calling the move unlawful and dangerous. Those objections ring hollow to anyone who has watched Maduro’s regime traffic drugs, crush dissent, and weaponize migration; principled critics of tyranny should understand that enforcing justice sometimes requires extraordinary measures.
President Donald Trump openly backed the operation and signaled a willingness to oversee a transition to stable government in Venezuela, a stark contrast to the timidity of previous administrations that tolerated chaos and allowed criminal networks to flourish. Conservatives should seize this moment to push for a clear, patriotic plan: secure our border, dismantle Maduro’s criminal apparatus, and support Venezuelans who wish to rebuild their country on the principles of freedom and the rule of law.
American servicemembers once again proved they are the finest force for liberty the world has ever seen, acting with courage to remove a threat to our hemisphere and to justice itself. This is a turning point that should make every hardworking American proud — but it also demands vigilance and wise statesmanship to ensure the sacrifice yields a stable, free Venezuela rather than a new power vacuum.
