Spies, drones and blowtorches: Inside the US operation that seized Nicolas Maduro
For months, US intelligence Operation from agencies quietly tracked the daily movements of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, monitoring where he slept, what he ate, what he wore and even, according to senior military officials, details about his pets.
The surveillance effort relied on a small, compartmentalised team that included at least one source inside the Venezuelan government. By early December, that intelligence fed into a mission plan known as Operation Absolute Resolve, the culmination of weeks of rehearsals and simulations. Elite US forces even constructed a full scale replica of Maduro’s Caracas compound to practise entry routes and timing.
The plan amounted to one of the most dramatic US military interventions in Latin America since the Cold War. It was kept tightly under wraps, with no advance notification to Congress. Once the final details were set, senior commanders waited for the right conditions to launch.
Officials said surprise was critical. A first attempt was authorised several days earlier, but poor weather and cloud cover prompted a delay.
“Through Christmas and New Year, our forces remained on standby, waiting for the right conditions and the order to move,” General Dan Caine, the United States’ top military officer, said at a Saturday news conference.
‘Good luck and godspeed’
The final order came at 22:46 Eastern time on Friday, shortly before midnight in Caracas. That timing allowed US forces to operate largely under cover of darkness.
President Donald Trump later told Fox & Friends that the window finally opened after several aborted starts. “All of a sudden it opened up. And we said go,” he said.
According to General Caine, Trump closed the call with a brief message. “Good luck and godspeed.”
What followed was a two hour and 20 minute operation involving air, land and sea assets. More than 150 aircraft, including fighter jets, helicopters and bombers, took part in coordinated strikes around Caracas before US forces moved in to secure Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
The scale and precision of the mission stunned many in Washington and abroad. Regional leaders reacted swiftly, with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva warning that the violent seizure of a sitting head of state set a dangerous global precedent.
Maduro flown to New York
By Saturday night, video released by the White House showed Maduro arriving at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Wearing a black hoodie, he walked down a corridor marked “DEA NYD” and appeared to wish someone a happy new year.
Trump shared an image of Maduro in handcuffs en route to New York and claimed the United States would now “run” Venezuela. Maduro has been indicted on multiple charges, including narco terrorism conspiracy. When pressed, the president offered few details about who would govern Venezuela in the interim.
Democrats accused Trump of launching the operation to secure oil interests rather than combat drug trafficking.
Is the operation legal?
The legality of the US action has been sharply contested, including by some of Trump’s allies. International law experts told the Guardian that the operation likely breached the United Nations charter, which prohibits the use of force against another state except with Security Council authorisation or in self defence.
Geoffrey Robertson KC, a former president of the UN war crimes court in Sierra Leone, said the United States had violated Article 2(4) of the charter. “This is the crime of aggression, described at Nuremberg as the supreme crime,” he said.
Elvira Domínguez Redondo of Kingston University and Susan Breau of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies agreed, saying there was no evidence the US was acting in self defence or under a UN mandate.
How the US may justify its actions
The White House is expected to argue that the strike was an act of self defence against what it describes as a narco terrorist organisation led by Maduro. Legal scholars said that argument faces steep hurdles.
“To invoke self defence, there must be an imminent armed threat,” Robertson said. “No one has suggested Venezuela was about to attack the United States.”
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Breau added that even if drug trafficking posed a serious problem, there was no clear evidence it threatened US sovereignty in a way that justified invasion.
Consequences and global precedent
Any effort to sanction the US through the UN Security Council is likely to fail, as Washington holds veto power. Experts warned this could embolden other nations.
Robertson said the lack of consequences could encourage China to move against Taiwan, citing parallels with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Domínguez Redondo said the episode further erodes the authority of the Security Council, originally designed to prevent another world war.
Impact on allies
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would seek clarification from Washington but stressed that Britain was not involved and remained committed to upholding international law. Other Nato allies are also watching closely.
Robertson argued that Britain, as a historical champion of the Nuremberg principles, has a responsibility to speak out. “Leaders who start wars bear responsibility for the death and destruction that follow,” he said.
As diplomatic fallout grows, the operation has already reshaped global debates over sovereignty, intervention and the limits of international law.
