On January 3rd, 2026, the United States military conducted an operation in Caracas, capturing the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The strikes occurred around 2:00 a.m. in the morning, demolishing military targets and unfortunately, hitting civilian neighborhoods as well. Maduro and his wife were in their home in bed when military personnel burst into their bedroom and essentially kidnapped the couple. It has been reported that a significant number of Maduro's security team was killed during the operation. "Maduro, an authoritarian, has led Venezuela since 2013, succeeding an ideological ally, Hugo Chávez, who had been in office since 1999. Under both men, U.S. relations with Venezuela frayed over foreign policy, oil and human rights", (stated in PBS article)
By Saturday evening, a plane carrying Maduro and his wife landed at New York Stewart Air National Guard base. "A video posted on X by the White House's rapid response account later appeared to show Maduro in the Drug Enforcement Administration headquarters in Manhattan. He was expected to be detained while awaiting trial at a federal jail in Brooklyn....Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, whom she described as "alleged international narco traffickers," had been indicted in the Southern District of New York." (NPR click here).
Is the invasion of Venezuela about drug trafficking? No. Just a few months ago, on December 1, 2026, Trump granted a pardon to a major drug trafficker in a U.S. prison. Juan Orlando Hernández, former president of Honduras, was sentenced to 45 years after a federal jury found him guilty of importing cocaine to the United States and also firearm offenses. Now, this man is completely free. Do this sound like a president concerned about drug trafficking?
Trump, in true to form dictator fashion, has announced he would be running the country of Venezuela until a proper transition can take place. This proposition along with the strike, has prompted a worldwide cry that the United States is violating international law. This administration has been violating International laws since Trump assumed his second term as president. Since September 2, 2025, Trump in collaboration with Pete Hegseth, current Secretary of Defense and former Fox News host, have been blowing up boats in Venezuelan waters. They claim their objective is to stop "Narco"terrorists", yet not a shred of proof has yet to manifest that these boats were carrying contraband. All of the boats were destroyed, therefore evidence, or lack of evidence no longer exist. (See previous post here).
Besides Trump and the Republican Party being contemptuous of people of color and Trump generated chaos to deflect from the Epstein files; it is becoming apparent this administration interest in Venezuela also involves oil and minerals. Our narcissistic president stated Saturday, January 3, "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country," Trump said. "The biggest beneficiary are going to be the people of Venezuela." So not.
Trump stated at a a news conference on January 3rd, “American dominance in the western hemisphere will never be questioned again”. It is clear this dictator and his administrators do not recognize the sovereignty of other nations. It is not surprising our white supremacist government holds such territorial and Eurocentric views.
The military operation on January 3rd marks the first direct U.S. military attack on a South American country from our nation. This sets the stage for very dangerous precedent. Venezuela is a sovereign nation. What is to stop the new authoritarian regime under Donald Trump from attacking other nations? Trump and his administrators should be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. So far the total death toll from this military strike has yet to be calculated, but an unknown number of people died as a result of this military strike.
On Monday January 5, the United Nations security Council conducted a meeting to discuss the U.S. military operation in Venezuela. Several ambassadors vocalized the strike was a violation of international law. During the meeting, Denmark took the opportunity to assert their sovereignty. "The inviolability of borders is not up for negotiation," said Christina Markus Lassen, Danish ambassador to the U.N"....She also defended Venezuela's sovereignty, saying "no state should seek to influence political outcomes in Venezuela through the use of threat of force or through other means inconsistent with international law." (PBS click here).
Maduro is obviously a dictator, and I am not defending his actions in Venezuela. However, the United States has violated international law. I like the statement Venezuelan Ambassador Samuel Moncada made to the UN Security Council: "If the kidnapping of a head of state, the bombing of a sovereign country and the open threat of further armed action are tolerated or downplayed, the message sent to the world is a devastating one: namely that the law is optional, and that force is the true arbiter of international relations".
