In the early morning hours of Saturday January 3rd, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela at a military fortress, President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores were taken by President Donald Trump and his military. Maduro is being accused of bringing a big portion of drugs to the U.S., which got him arrested. They caught him by cutting power in Caracas, conducting airstrikes, and using elite units for extraction.
The “Operation Absolute Resolve” has been in the making for years, with President Trump imposing sanctions of Venezuela back in 2017. The U.S. has been planning the taking of Maduro because he’s been accused of bringing drugs into the country for years. Trump now wants to take Venezuela along with the plan. Several of Maduro’s security and 32 Cuban personal soldiers were reported killed while the U.S. only had minor injuries.
“I feel like it was right to lock him up. I feel like Trump did the right thing because if not, Maduro would’ve kept bringing drugs into the U.S. and could’ve started a bigger war,”-says Jowel R, a student at Fords Middle School.
After the short, intense battle, Maduro and his wife were taken to court in New York. They were originally charged with narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, and illegal weapon conspiracies even after pleading not guilty. Maduro said he is “innocent”, a “decent man”, and a “prisoner of war”.
China and other countries condemned the act of taking Nicolas Maduro as a violation of international law and sovereignty. Some of those countries may be Russia, Cuba, Iran, and Turkey. Since the U.S. has taken over a Dictator of Venezuela, will other countries do the same in the future?
