Nicolás Maduro has just been removed from power in Venezuela after a sudden large-scale US military strike, and he has reportedly been captured and flown out of the country to face drug‑related charges in US courts.

What happened, in a nutshell

  • In the early hours of 3 January 2026, the United States launched what it called a “large‑scale” or “major offensive” against targets in and around Caracas, Venezuela.
  • Soon after, President Donald Trump announced that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife had been captured and removed from Venezuela during this operation.
  • US officials say Maduro will now face narco‑terrorism and cocaine trafficking–related charges in federal court, building on and expanding earlier indictments from 2020.

Legal and political angle

  • A newly unsealed federal indictment accuses Maduro, his wife, and several associates of a long‑running narco‑terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation into the US , tied to what prosecutors describe as a corrupt state‑protected trafficking network.
  • The US Attorney General has said Maduro and his wife will “face the full force of American justice on US soil,” framing the case as the culmination of more than two decades of alleged criminal activity embedded in the Venezuelan state.

Situation inside Venezuela

  • The strikes triggered explosions in Caracas , with reports of damage and power outages in some areas; Venezuela has declared a state of national emergency , though casualty figures and full damage assessments are still unclear.
  • Figures from Maduro’s ruling party have condemned the seizure of the president and first lady as a “kidnapping” and denounced the operation as an attack on Venezuela’s sovereignty.

International reaction and controversy

  • The move has drawn sharp criticism and concern from various international actors, with the UN Secretary‑General warning that the US action in Venezuela “constitutes a dangerous precedent” in terms of forcibly removing a sitting leader.
  • Supporters of the operation argue it could mark a “new dawn for Venezuela” by ending what they call a narco‑terrorist regime, while critics see it as an escalation that risks regional instability and undermines international law.

What to watch next

  • Key questions now are: how the US will manage Venezuela’s political transition after effectively de‑throning Maduro, how Venezuelan institutions and the military will react in the coming days, and whether further violence or power struggles emerge in Caracas.
  • Another major unknown is how courts, Congress, and foreign governments will respond to the precedent of a sitting head of state being captured in a rapid strike and brought directly into the US criminal justice system.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.