Global & US Headlines
U.S. Commandos Nab Maduro; Power Vacuums and Oil Bargaining Follow
Before dawn on 3 Jan 2026 U.S. special-operations forces extracted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from Caracas to New York, instantly toppling the figurehead and forcing Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez to assume power while Washington hints it will govern Venezuela’s oil-rich state.
Focusing Facts
- Maduro and his wife were seized in Caracas around 03:00 local time on 3 Jan 2026 and flown to the U.S., where he faces narco-terrorism and weapons charges in Manhattan federal court.
- Under Articles 233-234 of Venezuela’s constitution, Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president on 5 Jan 2026 after activating the National Defense Council and placing state institutions on “high alert.”
- On 4 Jan 2026 President Trump said the U.S. will "run" Venezuela and “take a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground,” while Secretary of State Marco Rubio opened direct talks with Rodríguez.
Context
Washington has not snatched a foreign head of state since the 1989 seizure of Panama’s Manuel Noriega, and—as with Noriega—narco-charges mask wider aims: consolidating regional hegemony and re-opening a shuttered oil sector. The raid resurrects the 1823 Monroe Doctrine’s logic but in a 21st-century form: precision decapitation followed by economic trusteeship rather than full-scale occupation. It also extends a post-9/11 trend of presidents bypassing Congress for kinetic regime change, eroding the very norms the U.S. claims to defend. Over a century-long horizon, the episode may matter less for who runs Caracas than for normalising abductions of sitting leaders—an action that future great powers (China over Taiwan, for example) could cite as precedent, accelerating the drift toward a raw, transaction-based international order.
Perspectives
Right-leaning media
e.g., Zero Hedge, Chicago Tribune editorial board — Portray the lightning-fast U.S. raid as a strategic master-stroke that topples a communist dictator, re-asserts the Monroe Doctrine and hands Washington a powerful new energy lever. Praise for Trump’s muscle flexing glosses over civilian deaths and legality questions, reflecting nationalist and pro-oil incentives that align with the outlets’ anti-left, anti-China worldview.
U.S. center-left / establishment publications
e.g., Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic — See Maduro’s capture as a mixed blessing that could backfire—undermining sovereignty, inviting prolonged U.S. control, and fueling instability because the operation looks driven by oil rather than democratic ideals. Emphasis on norms and process channels long-standing skepticism of Trump and may underplay Venezuelans’ relief at Maduro’s fall while privileging expert commentary inside a U.S. policy bubble.
Chinese state-owned and allied Global South outlets
e.g., China News, Al Bawaba carrying Caracas statements — Frame the raid as illegal U.S. aggression aimed at plundering Venezuela’s oil wealth and violating the UN Charter, rallying international support for Caracas against American hegemony. The narrative spotlights U.S. imperialism but sidesteps Beijing’s own strategic interests and glosses over Maduro’s repression, serving broader propaganda goals of countering U.S. influence.