In a move that stunned the world, the United State of America (USA) military forces has bombed the capital city of Venezuela, abducted President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores; with Donald Trump vowing to “run the country” until there is a “proper” transition of power. This unprovoked act on 3rd January, 2026 02:01 local time (06:01 GMT) at Maduro’s residence, was informed to be as a result of Venezuela being the world largest proven oils, which Trump administration had seized Oil Tankers near its coast and had even imposed an illegal blockade in December, 2025.
The Trump administration initially said, this violence attack on the 63-year old President Maduro, was about stopping drug smuggling and bringing Democracy and human rights to Venezuela (A case which were already justified that, they were false claims of fetennyl smuggling drugs from Venezuela). Meanwhile, it is widely known that, a military force cannot use bombs to stop drug trafficking, addiction or overdose deaths, because addiction in general is a public health crisis that requires access to healthcare, treatment and prevention. Again, decades of proof shows that, the bi-partisan US “war on drugs; failed severally, which last year, Trump was heard to have even pardoned, former Honduran Juan Orlando Hernandez who was convicted of smuggling 400 tons of cocaine into the US. Therefore, the world is questioning that, if Trump was this dead serious about drug addiction sobriety, why didn’t he first invest in treatment and prevention than using violence or cutting down programs that assisted these chronic ailments? In other words, the illegal act against a sovereign nation, boils down to the main subject that, Trump only captured President Nicolas Maduro because, he wanted to have absolute control over its nationalized oil and resources.
Details of the Capture
According to General Dan Caine – Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff in US, the capture was carefully planned for months where they built a house in Venezuela to look identical with everything being the same. So on Friday night, when the weather just broke enough, clearing a path which only, the most skilled aviators in the world could move through, about 150 aircrafts moved in operation, taking off from 20 different airbases across the Western Hemisphere.
During that period, they disabled Venezuela’s air defense systems with Trump saying that – “the lights in Caracas were largely turned off with the help of a certain expertise”, but he refused to elaborate how that expertise was also able to materialize the task. Again, several deafening explosions rang out across Caracas, with Pete Hegseth – the US defense secretary also describing it as part of “a massive joint military and law enforcement raid. The incidence lasted less than 30 minutes”, he said.
Also, Dan Caine informed that, around 02:01 local time (06:01 GMT) on Saturday, the US helicopters had already touched down at Maduro’s compound taking him and his wife into US custody.
Readouts, were also not found on whether there was an exchange of gun fire in the chaotic scramble, or if they were taken without a struggle. Just that, it was informed at 4:29 local time (08:29 GMT) that, Nicolas Maduro was put on board of the US aircraft carrier and landed in New York’s Stewart Air National Guard Base.
Trump later, also posted a photograph of the Venezuela President, blindfolded and wearing a grey track suite on his truth social platform.
What Other Countries Are Saying?
In a Press Release on 4th January, 2026, the President of the Republic of Ghana through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed strong reservations and dissatisfaction against Trump’s unilateral use of force to invade in Venezuela to capture its President and his wife. The Ghanaian Government has condemned the act as unlawful and also violating the Charter of the United Nations International laws, as well as the sovereignty, territorial, integrity and political independence of states.
The Government of Ghana ascertained that, Trump’s declaration to “run Venezuela until there is a proper transition of power,” are clear reminiscent of colonial and imperialist era and might set a dangerous precedent for global war. As such, it calls for immediate release of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, as well as reassuring and re-affirming to the international community of its commitment to the principle of self-determination in holding the firm view that, it is only the people of Venezuela that have the liberty to determine their political and democratic future.
China on the other hand, has also strongly condemned the US capture on Maduro and his wife. By saying that, the act violated international law and threatens peace and security in Latin America. Therefore, US should immediately release Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who are set to appear Monday in New York court on drug trafficking and other charges.
Conclusion
It is upon this backdrop that, the world is saying – all countries should respect the development path independently chosen by other peoples, by abiding the international laws, purposes and principles of the UN Charter, because, such turbulence experiences and unilateral bullying, seriously and negatively impacts the international order of countries and the world at large.