Overview
- U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores and brought them to the United States on an updated SDNY indictment alleging narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, possession of machine guns, and conspiracy to possess machine guns.
- The indictment newly ties the pair to Tren de Aragua, even as an earlier ODNI memo reported no evidence of a Maduro-directed policy of cooperation with the gang.
- President Trump invoked a revamped Monroe Doctrine he dubbed the "Donroe" doctrine and said the United States would run Venezuela temporarily with U.S. companies involved in extracting oil.
- The White House’s December National Security Strategy vowed to reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine, framing the action as part of a broader push to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere.
- The United Nations warned of a dangerous precedent under the UN Charter, lawmakers demanded legal justifications and briefings, and reports pointed to fluid power dynamics in Caracas with unconfirmed indications of possible regime or military cooperation.