For years, Dr. Homer Harkins and I have been covering the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. Eight million citizens have fled the country over the last 10 years, producing even more refugees than the exodus from Syria. In 2024, the Venezuelan people voted for change, electing Edmundo González Urrutia as the new president with 67% of the vote according to independent tallies and opposition-collected evidence. Instead of accepting the results, Nicolás Maduro ignored the election, ending 66 years of democracy in Venezuela and continuing to rule as a dictator.
The Venezuelan people have struggled bravely and non-violently for the return of democracy. The leader of this resistance, María Corina Machado, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025 for her tireless dedication to this effort.
The growing threat to the region posed by its first narco-state regime since the days of Manuel Noriega, combined with Maduro’s deepening alliances with adversaries of the United States such as Cuba, Iran, Russia, and China prompted the Trump administration to deploy a large maritime task force to the Caribbean as part of escalating pressure under Operation Southern Spear.
The U.S. effort to restore democracy and the rule of law to Venezuela and to counter the growing international presence there began immediately after Trump took office, with renewed diplomatic pressure on the Maduro regime. This focused on building a coalition of American states that recognize Edmundo González Urrutia as the duly elected president. Economic sanctions and designations for key regime leaders were expanded and enhanced. The campaign then escalated to enacting a partial maritime exclusion and no-fly zone, supported by kinetic targeting of drug-smuggling boats, the seizure of internationally sanctioned oil transported illegally by ghost ships, and other counter-narcotics operations.
Today, this phase reached a significant milestone with what appears, based on first reports, to be a spectacularly successful special operations raid that captured, arrested, and extracted Maduro and his wife from Caracas to the United States, where they will likely spend the rest of their lives in prison. The operation was most likely spearheaded by elite U.S. special mission forces (reported positioned offshore on 26 December) and supported by the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. President Trump announced the capture early on January 3, 2026, describing it as part of a large-scale strike, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed that Maduro will face trial on criminal charges in the U.S.
Despite this success, a larger question remains: now what? Caracas is eerily quiet at the moment, likely in a state of social shock. The raid faced minimal resistance, suggesting the Venezuelan military may be beyond incompetence or, possibly, was aware something big was about to happen and chose not to resist. But regime loyalists are already leveraging their propaganda machine to mobilize support for the revolution begun by Hugo Chávez 34 years ago.
Has the stage already been set for the return of Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado, the restoration of legitimate government, and a smooth, mostly peaceful transition? Or, once the shock wears off, will remaining regime leaders be able to re-exert authority through a wave of terror and survive in power?
For now, there is hope that the Venezuelan people will regain freedom and democracy, ending two decades of criminal corruption, economic collapse, and collective fear brought by the revolution to their country.
Stay tuned as events unfold. We would expect more detailed information to follow, with the most significant updates likely coming from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
