Thoughts on the Capture of Maduro and Trump's Attack on Venezuela |
Venezuela
Maduro is a brutal dictator who is getting what he deserves. But Trump's actions are still illegal, because lacking proper congressional authorization. Whether they result in a beneficial regime change in Venezuela remains to be seen.
Ilya Somin | 1.3.2026 2:23 PM
Last night, US forces launched strikes on Venezuela and seized that country's dictator Nicolas Maduro, bringing him back to the US to face charges for drug smuggling. Maduro is getting what he deserves, even if for the wrong reasons. But the US attack is illegal, and it is far from clear whether it will really lead to a beneficial regime change in Venezuela.
I shed no tears for Maduro, who is a brutally oppressive dictator and not the legitimate ruler of his country (given his falsification of the 2024 election results). His real crime is not drug smuggling or "narco-terrorism" but repression and murder on a massive scale, creating the biggest refugee crisis in the history of the Western Hemisphere. The recent history of Venezuela is an abject lesson in the perils of "democratic socialism." That sort of regime leads to poverty and massive human rights violations - and doesn't stay democratic for long.
If Maduro ends up spending the rest of his life in a US prison, it will be just punishment for his many crimes, though drug smuggling is not what he really deserves to be punished for. The US War on Drugs is