On January 3, 2026, Nicolás Maduro was captured by United States forces in a large-scale attack on Venezuela. He and his wife, Cilia Flores, were swiftly flown out of the country, and Maduro will face charges in the Southern District of New York of narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S. The operation marked months of buildup by U.S. forces in the region, as U.S. Pres. Donald Trump had accused Maduro of supporting drug traffickers, accusations that Maduro has vehemently denied. Trump said the U.S. would run the country following Maduro’s capture, with particular attention to having U.S. oil companies take over Venezuela’s struggling nationalized industry.
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