Staff Reports
On January 3, 2026, United States forces executed a bold operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and his transfer to New York for federal prosecution. What would have been unthinkable a few years ago — a sitting foreign leader brought to American soil to face justice — happened because a president finally chose action over empty rhetoric.
Video showed Maduro being led through a Drug Enforcement Administration facility in handcuffs, a public moment that sent a clear message: lawlessness will not be tolerated, no matter the title or the dictator. He is now being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a stark reversal for a man who once trafficked in corruption and cruelty while Venezuela collapsed.
Federal prosecutors have unsealed a superseding indictment charging Maduro and his inner circle with narco-terrorism and conspiracy to traffic enormous quantities of cocaine into the United States, crimes that devastated American neighborhoods for decades. This is not partisan theater — it is accountability for enabling a transnational criminal enterprise that profited from suffering and violence.
President Trump was unapologetic, telling the nation the U.S. would stabilize and run Venezuela temporarily to secure a safe, orderly transition, an astonishingly candid commitment to protect American interests and regional stability. Critics will howl about sovereignty and international law, but working Americans see the difference between talk and results: when the chips are down, some leaders act to protect their country.
The howls from the usual suspects — globalist elites and hand-wringing cable hosts — were immediate and predictable, yet Venezuelan exiles and families harmed by the narcotics trade took to the streets to celebrate. This clash of reactions exposes the moral bankruptcy of those who defend dictators because it fits their ideological script while ignoring the human wreckage left behind.
Patriots should take a moment to savor this victory for justice and deterrence: courageous action, enforced accountability, and a refusal to cower before corrupt regimes. If Washington keeps applying pressure to the rest of the Maduro network — the officials, enablers, and money men who enriched themselves at the expense of Venezuelans and Americans alike — there’s no reason the clean-up can’t continue until the rot is exposed and removed.
