After the intervention in Venezuela Trump is shifting the rules - but in the end he is concerned with something else
During the US operation "Absolute Resolve", Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were arrested and brought to the USA. Trump followed the operation live.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- US special forces arrested Maduro and his wife in a nighttime operation in Caracas and took them to a warship.
- According to the US military, more than 150 aircraft were involved and parts of the capital's power supply were switched off.
- Critics speak of a sensitive precedent under international law because Congress was allegedly not informed in advance.
The USA has arrested Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro in a night-time military operation in Caracas. The operation was dubbed "Operation Absolute Resolve" and ended with Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores being taken out of the country and later handed over to the US authorities in New York.
As US media are now reporting, US President Donald Trump followed the operation live from Mar-a-Lago - together with advisors and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
According to Reuters, US General Dan Caine said that the operation lasted around two hours and 20 minutes. More than 150 aircraft were deployed, which took off from various bases and also from ships - with the aim of suppressing Venezuelan air defenses, among other things.
Preparations for the raid went on for months
According to reports, parts of the power supply in Caracas were also switched off during the attack. Trump spoke of technical "expertise" without giving details.
The core also included Delta Force units and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the "Night Stalkers", which specializes in night helicopter missions.
Trump told the US media that he had watched a live recording "literally like a TV show". General Caine described how the helicopters had come under fire on approach and had responded "with overwhelming force". According to Trump, US soldiers were injured, but there were no fatalities on the US side.
The preparation apparently went on for months. Reuters reported that special forces had practiced with a model of the suspected location. Trump described how Maduro had tried to retreat into a room with a steel door. "But he couldn't close the door," Trump said, because the forces were able to break down the entrance "within seconds".
After the arrest, Maduro and his wife were first taken to the USS Iwo Jima warship. They later traveled by plane to New York. The White House has released a video showing Maduro in handcuffs. In it, he is led across a carpet of the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The US broadcaster CNN confirmed the authenticity of the account published on X.
US Senate was not informed
The political context is particularly explosive: Several media report that the US Congress was not informed in advance - out of concern about leaks. Legal experts also told the Washington Post that the access was a possible violation of international law because it was an armed operation on foreign territory. The criticism is also directed at the question of what happens after the arrest - and whether the USA is effectively ushering in a new phase of intervention.
In Venezuela, the previous vice president Delcy Rodríguez was appointed interim president. She condemned the action as a "brutal attack". Trump, for his part, said that the USA would "govern" Venezuela during a transitional period and have energy infrastructure rebuilt. He did not give any further details.
"Trump was never just about Maduro"
Beyond immediate access, experts see much bigger goals. Political scientist Wolf Grabendorff told SRF that the fight against drugs was merely a pretext. "Trump was never just about Maduro," said Grabendorff. In reality, it was about oil, geopolitics and Trump's personal agenda.
Trump wanted to demonstrate that the USA could continue to exercise control over Latin America - a claim that, according to Grabendorff, is also reflected in the new national security strategy. Venezuela also has the largest oil reserves in the world, which makes access particularly strategically explosive.
Trump also said at the press conference on Saturday that "big US companies" would take over oil production in Venezuela.
Maduro was the "typical enemy": because of his proximity to Cuba, Nicaragua, China and Russia - and because he had resisted an attempt to overthrow him in the past. "Trump has never forgotten that," says Grabendorff.
Danger of chaos and a power vacuum
The expert does not expect Venezuela to stabilize quickly. Initially, chaos and a power vacuum are to be expected. Historically, regime changes forced by the USA have rarely led to stable democracies - Grabendorff points to examples such as Iraq or Afghanistan.
The biggest concern of the neighboring countries is now a new wave of refugees. Venezuela's problems have not been solved with the capture of Maduro. "The US government assumes that it has done the dirty work and is now taking over the opposition - I doubt that will happen," said Grabendorff.
