U.S. special forces, under direct orders from President Donald J. Trump, executed a high-risk raid on Caracas on January 2, 2026, capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro alive after years of evading justice for drug trafficking, election theft, and human rights abuses. The operation, coordinated with Venezuelan opposition forces and regional allies, targeted Maduro\u2019s fortified palace, neutralizing his security detail and extracting the strongman without American casualties. Maduro, indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism charges with a $15 million U.S. bounty, now faces extradition to face trial in America for flooding streets with fentanyl and orchestrating a migrant crisis that strained U.S. resources.Trump announced the capture in a late-night address, calling Maduro \u201ca monster who starved his people and poisoned ours,\u201d vowing full prosecution under U.S. law. The raid followed Trump\u2019s December 2025 aid cutoff to Venezuela and intensified sanctions, signaling zero tolerance for regimes harboring cartels. Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez praised the action as \u201cliberation,\u201d with interim government forces securing key cities amid celebrations in Caracas streets.The capture ends Maduro\u2019s 12-year rule, marked by hyperinflation, mass exodus of 7 million citizens, and alliances with Iran and Russia. Trump\u2019s team, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi, coordinated the op with precision, using intelligence from defectors and drone surveillance. Maduro\u2019s inner circle scattered, with several lieutenants detained in follow-up sweeps.This victory bolsters Trump\u2019s hemispheric dominance, deterring other rogue leaders and securing energy routes. As Maduro awaits transfer to U.S. custody, the operation showcases America\u2019s unmatched military prowess under Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.S. special forces, under direct orders from President Donald J. Trump, executed a high-risk raid on Caracas on January 2, 2026, capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro alive after years of evading justice for drug trafficking, election theft, and human rights abuses. The operation, coordinated with Venezuelan opposition forces and regional allies, targeted Maduro\u2019s fortified palace,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":3,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1112222-1024x570.png",1024,570,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"flashpoint","author_link":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/?author=1"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":3,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":34,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":34,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116,"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions\/116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flashpointupdates.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}