In the early hours of Jan. 4, President Donald Trump authorized Operation Absolute Resolve, a daring U.S. special operations raid that culminated in the undetected capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his fortified compound in Caracas.

The high-stakes mission, executed with precision by elite forces including Delta Force and supported by advanced intelligence, electronic warfare, and stealth technology, has sparked a whirlwind of theories about its underlying motivations. The official narrative of the mission for many is framed as a straightforward pursuit of justice against a narco-trafficker. But the operation’s broader implications reveal a calculated display of U.S. dominance, sending an unmistakable message to adversaries worldwide: America holds the reins of global power, and challenging it comes at a steep price.

Since Maduro’s capture, analysts, media outlets, and online commentators have proliferated theories about the raid’s true intent, often diverging from the Trump administration’s stated rationale. Officially, the operation is justified as a law-enforcement action targeting Maduro’s alleged role in drug trafficking and collaboration with terrorist-designated groups, with federal charges in New York related to narcotics and gang affiliations. It builds on prior U.S. strikes against Venezuelan drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean, portraying the raid as the climactic endpoint of a sustained campaign against narco-terrorism.

And this is undoubtedly part of the reasoning behind the mission. Trump has been vocal for years about his disdain for narco-terrorists and the American deaths left in their wake. And it’s hard not to recognize the renewal of the Monroe Doctrine (

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