Maduro Captured and Flown Out of Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured and flown out of Venezuela in a dramatic U.S. military operation in early January 2026, an unprecedented intervention in the country’s political crisis. The operation, code-named Operation Absolute Resolve, began in the pre-dawn hours of 3 January 2026 when U.S. forces struck military targets and key installations around Caracas to suppress air defences and enable a rapid extraction of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. According to U.S. officials, helicopters entered the capital, took the couple into custody at their compound, and transported them out of Venezuelan territory before flying them to the United States, where Maduro faces federal criminal charges including narcoterrorism and drug-related conspiracies. The operation was described by U.S. President Donald Trump as the culmination of months of planning and pressure, with Trump asserting that Maduro and his wife “gave up and were taken into custody.” Military officials reported the mission involved coordinated air and ground elements and was executed with no U.S. fatalities. After being flown out of Venezuela, Maduro and Flores appeared in a New York federal court, where they were indicted and pleaded not guilty to the charges. The capture sparked sharp condemnation from Venezuelan authorities and foreign governments such as Russia, which demanded their release and protested what they called a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty. The incident triggered unrest in parts of Venezuela, raised security concerns for foreign nationals, and intensified debates over international law, regional stability, and U.S. interventionism.