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4w ago

U.S. Raid Seizes Venezuela’s Maduro After CIA Intel and Delta Force Assault

The White House calls it a narcotics case, drawing legal and diplomatic challenges over sovereignty and reported civilian deaths.

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The Cuban flag flies at half-mast at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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Overview

  • Operation Absolute Resolve combined months of CIA surveillance and a Delta Force helicopter assault supported by more than 150 U.S. aircraft from about 20 bases to capture Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores in Caracas.
  • Maduro and his wife were flown by helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima, transferred to Guantánamo Bay, and then taken to the New York area to face U.S. narco‑terrorism, cocaine‑importation, and weapons charges.
  • U.S. officials report no American fatalities and about six injuries, while Venezuelan authorities claim a large portion of Maduro’s security detail was killed and place total deaths between roughly 40 and 80, including civilians.
  • Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has assumed power in Caracas, as President Trump says the U.S. will temporarily run Venezuela and focus on its oil sector, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio says no U.S. forces remain on the ground.
  • Officials describe a CIA team inside Venezuela since August, a human source near Maduro, and rehearsals on a full‑scale mock‑up of his compound, even as international scrutiny intensifies over the raid’s legality and sovereignty implications.