In an extraordinary military operation, the United States launched a large-scale military operation in Caracas, Venezuela with special forces seizing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. There is a pending 2020 indictment of Maduro in the Southern District of New York where he is expected to be taken to face prosecution.
The operation comes not long after the 37th anniversary of the capture of Manuel Antonio Noriega on December 20, 1989. Noriega was convicted of drug and money laundering offenses and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He was tried in Miami, Florida.
He was indicted in a four-count superseding indictment with Diosdado Cabello Rondón, 56, head of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly; Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios aka “El Pollo,” 59, former director of military intelligence; Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, 58, former General in the Venezuelan armed forces; Luciano Marín Arango aka “Ivan Marquez,” 64, a member of the FARC’s Secretariat, which is the FARC’s highest leadership body; and Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte aka “Jesús Santrich,” 53, a member of the FARC’s Central High Command, which is the FARC’s second-highest leadership body.
This operation will be justified as executing the criminal warrant and responding to an international drug cartel, a very similar legal framework to the one used against Noriega. There is precedent supporting that earlier operation, which will now be used to defend the actions in Venezuela.
Here is part of the earlier description from the Justice Department of the indicted conduct:
“Maduro helped manage and ultimately lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan officials. As he gained power in Venezuela, Maduro participated in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. Maduro negotiated multi-ton shipments of FARC-produced cocaine; directed the Cartel of the Suns to provide military-grade weapons to the FARC; coordinated with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking; and solicited assistance from FARC leadership in training an unsanctioned militia group that functioned, in essence, as an armed forces unit for the Cartel of the Suns. In March 2020, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York for narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.”
Democratic members quickly denounced the operation as unlawful. They may want to review past cases, particularly the decision related to the Noriega prosecution after his capture by President George H.W. Bush in 1989.
Representative Jim McGovern (D., Mass) declared:
“Without authorization from Congress, and with the vast majority of Americans opposed to military action, Trump just launched an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela. He says we don’t have enough money for healthcare for Americans—but somehow we have unlimited funds for war??”
Trump does not need congressional approval for this type of operation. Presidents, including Democratic presidents, have launched lethal attacks regularly against individuals. President Barack Obama killed an American citizen under this “kill list” policy. If Obama can vaporize an American citizen without even a criminal charge, Trump can capture a foreign citizen with a pending criminal indictment without prior congressional approval.
Ordinarily, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and other international agreements require the United States to notify the embassy of a foreign national arrested and held in the United States. Notice seems a tad superfluous in this case.
In his appeal, Noriega argued that his arrest violated international law under the head-of-state immunity doctrine. The district court rejected Noriega’s head-of-state immunity claim because the United States government never recognized Noriega as Panama’s legitimate ruler — an argument that will be made in the Maduro prosecution.
The United States for the Eleventh Circuit also rejected the immunity claim.
Noriega also argued that his capture violated the Treaty Providing for the Extradition of Criminals, May 25, 1904, United States of America-Republic of Panama, 34 Stat. 2851 (“U.S.-Panama Extradition Treaty”). The Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 504 U.S. 655 (1992), however, was found to bar this argument. The issue was whether he was abducted to the United States with a superseding extradition treaty. The Eleventh Circuit held:
The article of the U.S.-Panama Extradition Treaty upon which Noriega relies for his extradition treaty claim contains almost the same language as the provision of the U.S.-Mexico Extradition Treaty at issue in Alvarez-Machain. See U.S.-Panama Extradition Treaty, art. 5 (“Neither of the contracting parties shall be bound to deliver up its own citizen or subject ․”)…
Under Alvarez-Machain, to prevail on an extradition treaty claim, a defendant must demonstrate, by reference to the express language of a treaty and/or the established practice thereunder, that the United States affirmatively agreed not to seize foreign nationals from the territory of its treaty partner. Noriega has not carried this burden, and therefore, his claim fails.
The Noriega case offers ample support for the Trump Administration, which has had an outstanding arrest warrant for over five years. He is not viewed as the duly elected leader of Venezuela and has been tied to a criminal drug cartel.
The action will also have a major impact on foreign policy. The Monroe Doctrine just became the Trump Doctrine. This action not only confronted Venezuela but also Cuba, which was supplying the security around Maduro. Presumably, Cuban security may have been involved in the firefight. While cutting off vital oil to Cuba, the Trump Administration just delivered a blow against the Cuban regime — arguably one of the most stinging defeats since crushing the Cuban forces in Grenada in 1983.
Legally, Trump has the upper hand in this case. Maduro will replay the arguments from the Noriega case. However, he presents an even weaker case on the merits under the controlling precedent than did Noriega.
N.B.: This column also appeared on Fox.com
After his countless war crimes and violations of international law, the United States should not recognize Putin as the legitimate ruler of Russia, either. Therefore, what was done to Maduro and Noriega should be done to Putin, too.
And Biden. Don’t forget Biden.
Why?
Biden forgot Biden, that’s why!
Money laundering? Child fondling? The possibilities are endless.
If you are so concerned about the welfare of children, then
you should be concerned about the thousands of children
that Putin has blown to smithereens.
Gaza
That is the basis for my opposition to this action. Smaller less powerful nations are susceptible to such international lawfare while larger nations like Russia, China, or the United States are not.
Gary – I suspect a side benefit of this sending a message to China which has been sabre rattling regardin gTaiwan.
This was a very large military operation.
While the Venezuelan military is not up to the capabilities of China, They are not 10 times worse.
To prevail in a conflict with the US over Taiwan China must assure that any conflict is less than 3:1 lopsided in favor of the US.
This was a very large operation in which the US did not lose a single aircraft.
The message to Chin is that in a Conflict with the US navy in very short order the US will control the skies tleast 100KM inland from the coast.
Invading Taiwan is like the Hitler trying to cross the english channel in 1939.
If China can not control the air over the Taiwan straight their forces will be massacred crossing.
I have watched numerous military simiulations of an action similar to this against Venezuela.
None of those simulations went this well.
Gary- No, the strategy is to unite smaller entities to present a united front, Like NATO and SEATO, and the original UN—that maintains individuality of nationality but represents a united front to overcome a singular, larger entity.
Please, please, let Noriega, Maduro, and Biden share the same cell.
Soap on a Rope
Obama might be in there too!
Diogenes, Noriega has been dead for almost ten years now. Digging him up to throw his corpse in a cell with Maduro and Biden would be fairly icky for all the Good Guys involved. And the correctional officers… wow! Talk about doing time on the installment plan!
Nevertheless… I like the way you think.
Hear, Hear!! Beautifully summarized and well said!! Thank You, Prof. Turley, for presenting the fully valid and ‘sane’ view with solid historical references supporting this event.. The fact that Maria Machado, who has just won the Nobel Peace Prize, quickly came on board, will serve to help quiet any ‘TDS’ barrage of nonsense criticism…
I’m waiting for some low level judge to make a ruling to either release Maduro or bring him back to Venezuela.
We can only hope there is some left wing nut judge that would act that stupidly.
While you are offering a hypothetical – it is not that far fetched.
What so many on the left fail to grasp is even when they win they lose.
Calling judge Boasberg…
Congratulations to the Joint Operation Forces in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Now if they can get; Hillary Clinton, Rosie O’Donnell. Rachel Maddow, …etc. and ‘Lock em Up’,
America will be Great Again.
Why is Venezuela our war but Ukraine is not our war?
Monroe Doctrine.
Was France covered by the Monroe Doctrine?
What about the Philippines and South Korea?
I think you stumped them.
Perhaps Pearl Harbor and WWII expanded the Monroe Doctrine exponentially. Without the Rosenbergs we might still be running everything. 😉
Why is it hard to understand that Ukraine is not a US interest and Venezuela is ?
Who decided that it’s not, and why?
Reality decides that.
What happens in Ukraine has no consequential impact on the US.
What happens in Venezuella obviously does.
Why is that? What is our interest in Venezuela that allows us to kidnap that nation’s head of state.
Flooding the US with Drugs, and criminals.
You seem to forget there is a US indictment and arrest warrant that has sat for 5 years.
What are you going to charge Putin with to indict him for crimes against the US ?
Gary
We didn’t kidnap the Venezuelan President. We captured in a covert raid and are bringing to justice a narcoterrorist that has been indicted with warrant issued for arrest for allegedly importing volumes of lethal drugs into our country. Have you been living under a rock? Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
John Say wrote: Why is it hard to understand that Ukraine is not a US interest and Venezuela is ?
Ukraine as a country that is not a US interest sure has changed in some peoples’ view since it was a passionate US interest in the 1980’s when they became the third largest nuclear power in the world!
Why is it so hard to deal with the elephant that is apparently unseen in the Ukraine room: what did the US promise Ukraine that was more valuable to Ukraine than retaining those 3,300 strategic and tactical nuclear weapons which they would have still held as a deterrent while selling others as needed for hundreds of billions of dollars to nations like Iran, North Korea, Yemen, Syria, etc?
Did we convince them to become No Cards Ukraine with promises to they would fight future invaders alone, with nothing from the US but non lethal aid as Obama and Biden provided?
Did we convince them by promising to give them a few selected weapons – complete with restrictions on how we would allow them to wage war against Russia as Trump and then Biden did? To use them under those conditions and fighting a restricted war, while we warned them at the same time that we would still leave them to fight an invading enemy on their own?
What does Occam’s Razor say about the likelihood of either of those two theories on what we promised Ukraine that persuaded them to surrender those thousands of nukes and the hundreds of billions of dollars they could have made by selling a few here and there to countries who are our adversaries?
Willful blindness isn’t just Democrats repeatedly saying “What crisis at the Southern border?”
Make Venezuela great again.
I appreciate the article. One correction to “not long after the 37th anniversary of the capture of Manuel Antonio Noriega on December 20, 1989”.
It is not long after the 36th anniversary. Do the math.
Do the grammar. Simple subtraction is arithmetic, not math.
I count 37.
I appreciate your attention to detail in grammar and math.
Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado celebrates US capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro: ‘hour of freedom has arrived
By Katherine Donlevy
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado celebrated the US capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro Saturday, saying in her first public comment the “hour of freedom has arrived.”
“The time has come for popular sovereignty and national sovereignty to govern our country. We will restore order, free the political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home,” Machado wrote in a statement.
“We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening.”
Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her political advocacy, thanked the US for fulfilling its “promise to uphold the law.”
Machado appears poised to take the place of Maduro, according to experts.
It is hardly surprising that the leader of the political opposition applauded our intervention. Democrats would applaud the kidnapping of Trump, and Jefferson Davis would have approved of the abduction of Lincoln.
In reaction to Maduro’s capture, it’s been reported Katherine Maher has taken refuge in a safe room at NPR.
Seen a few references to “frigidity of rugged individualism,” and ” the warmth of collectivism.”
(H/T to Lin and Cindy Bragg)
It is that frigid rugged individual who is the one who gets up in the middle of the night to stoke and stock the fires to keep them going or else the fires go out.
It is the warm collectivist who goes to bed and assumes someone else will do the job of getting up in the middle of the night to stoke and stock the fires to keep them going and then when everyone else assumed someone else would do it, they are surprised to awaken in the morning to a frigid home. Who is going to restart the fires? Does anyone know how to do it?
Hey! Get that frigid rugged individual from across the street to come and restart our fires!!
@Upstate
Indeed, and the foolish kids that made this happen are about to learn the hard way. I have no hope for NYC; I only hope it stays contained to it and similar blue cities as it is marginalized.
Collectivism has never worked anywhere.
It is at odds with human nature.
It literally pretends that Pareto law – which is just a reflection fo the bell curve distribution of attributes in nature does not exist.
We do not have a cult of individualism. It is literally how nature made us.
Democrats have given the GOP innumerable gifts – Mamdani is one of those.
If he keeps a fraction of his promises NYC is going to h311.
Is he ignorant of the mess that is Cuba or Venezuela ? or anywhere else this idiocy has been tried.
Oh, the leftist shrieking will be off the charts in spite of precedent. Let them, and vote against them double hard in the midterms.
We no longer have an American democratic party, just a flock of privileged sheep bending over daily.
Just a reminder ‘classical’ libs: in the 21st century you are no longer voting for the party of JFK, and you are not fighting Richard Nixon. Grow up.
Democrats declare Trump’s capture of Maduro illegal despite past presidents’ similar actions
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/dems-say-strike-leading-maduros-capture-was-illegal-despite-past-presidents
The good professor is quoted in the article. It is noted how Obama did the same thing in Libya.
Note the language Democrats are using despite Obama doing similar things.
If the dems didn’t have double standards, they’d have none
Just another America First move by our POTUS, who is still doing what he promised prior to being re-elected by the majority of the country, and so unlike most other politicians.
I’m sure the deranged Democrats and their propaganda media will try to criminalize Trump’s conduct as they do everything he does, demanding impeachment.
But the Noriega legal precedent and the fact that Americans know young people’s lives are being saved by dumping the China fentanyl coming out of Venezuela to the bottom of the sea will make this as popular as the other Trump promises kept, like closing the border, deporting illegals (especially criminals), preventing boys/men from cheating against girls/women in sports and keeping parents in control of decisions about their children’s genitalia.
When Democrats and their propaganda media oppose all of that, now including the takedown of Maduro, the Republican campaign commercials will just keep writing themselves. 😉
Venezuela sends cocaine to Europe. Fentanyl comes through Mexico.
Our young people use Fentanyl because they have no hope, their futures having been stolen by the Billionaires who pay Millionaires to Convince the Middle and Lower Class to be Minions; the subtitle to my book, The Right to Rage. In it are described the many ways in which the conservative line is hijacked to subvert the interests of the vast majority of the American population in order to transfer the maximum wealth to the American oligarchs. They want to incite rage as cover for this transfer of wealth which sees massive tax decreases on the wealthy and moderate tax increases on everyone else.
Had the billionaires not been spending so much on lobbyists to cover for the exporting of American jobs to China and gutting American health care spending, those young people might have a place in the American economy and some hope for the future. Productivity has gone up. Wages have not followed.
“Venezuela sends cocaine to Europe. Fentanyl comes through Mexico.”
False – the root source of Fentanyl precursors is from China.
The destinations include the US, Mexico Venezuela and many others, where the precursors are converted to Fentanyl and then transported to the US.
Cocaine originates in South america in heads all over the world.
While Venezuella is not the leading source of Fentanyl it is false to claim Fentanyl does not come through Venezuela.
Nor does does Venezuela primarily supply cocaine to Europe.
The boats Trump took out wee not headed to Europe.
“Our young people use Fentanyl because they have no hope”
If so that would be the fault of the left.
Contra Mamdani it is Individuals that have ALWAYS brought about the future – not collectivism.
If you want a better tomorow it is exactly the people you pi$$ on that will bring that about.
The world has changed radically in my life time. The standard of living in this country has doubled several times over.
None of that is the consequence of collectivism.
Further, if you have a dark view of the future – that is because left wing nuts have been lying to you.
There is not a single malthusian prediction of the future that has EVER come true since .. Malthus.
If you think your future has been stolen you have been badly educated and are ignorant of history.
In the US and everywhere in the world over the long run nearly everyone can be certain their children will live in a better world than they have.
We used to think of those ranting in the streets that “the end is near” were mentally disturbed, now they are just democrats.
If Government kept its fingers out of things they do not belong in – there would be no lobbying.
Rent seeking is Guaranteed to the extent that Govenrment has power that can be rented.
Disempower govenrment – and business must respond to consumers.
You can not and do not want to disrupt the shifting of investment. That is what drives standard of living up.
We WANT most low skill low paying jobs to go elsewhere. We WANT productivity to increase – so that we can get paid more for a higher skilled job.
Absolutely the capital investment that creates greater productivity is going to result in more benefit to investors that labor.
Labor did not cause the productivity increase, and did not take any risk.
If one man and a 150,000 backhoe can dig ditches faster than 25 men with shovels should the backhoe operator make 25 times as much as the man with the shovel. 10- times ? 5 times ? The bulk of the benefit will ALWAYS go to those who bough the backhoe.
If you wish to become wealthy – learn how to invest.
Regardless – why do you care how much Elon Musk makes ?
Doe is matter if he is a Billionaire a Trillionaire a gazillionaire if you are doing 5 times as well as your parents ?
Regardless 99.999999% of Musks wealht is tied up in investments that create jobs for you or otherwise raise your standard of living.
“Regardless 99.999999% of Musks wealht [sic]is tied up in investments that create jobs for you or otherwise raise your standard of living.”
John, only 0.0000001% of Americans, not including any Ivy League Professors, understand that fact.
A Democrat communist says: Our young people use Fentanyl because they have no hope, their futures having been stolen by the Billionaires who pay Millionaires to Convince the Middle and Lower Class to be Minions
79% of Today’s Millionaires Are Young and Self-Made
https://www.newsweek.com/todays-millionaires-younger-self-made-growing-1839233
The war cry of the Bernie Bros and American communists: “Our young people aren’t actually working in the trades, building military careers, doing hard and well paying work in the oil patch, etc. No, they’re all exactly like the Crackhead Kid: addicted to fentanyl because like Hunter Biden they have had their futures stolen by the Democrats donors who convince millionaires like Bernie Sanders to convince them they are minions.
Minions who, unlike those other American kids who fought our 20 year long war in Afghanistan, are permanently stuck in the economic class that they were in while in unionized public schools.
There is absolutely no way that they can work their way up through the economic classes to build careers, businesses, and wealth of their own. Lenin was the first to tell us that, and this Democrat communist wants to warn us that what Lenin and Marx’s writings told him is still true today.
This is why the description “Communist Useful Idiot” is as true today as it was over a century ago. And why these communist Democrats Dump To Divert And Then Disappear.
Here is the view from honest conservative “Originalists” on the U.S. Supreme Court:
The U.S. Constitution ratified in 1789 and Bill of Rights ratified in 1791 were designed to solve 2 problems:
Correct the weaknesses of the “Articles of Confederation” (governing by committee with a weak federal leader) and providing strong checks & balances on the 18th Century King George III – a lawless dictator (who possibly Trump models himself after).
What’s important for the so-called “Originalists” to understand was that 18th Century King George III was violating English laws established by the English Parliament and English judges.
Specifically King George III violated the Magna Carta and English Declaration of Rights in 1689. This lawless 18th Century English dictator inspired the “Declaration of Independence” and the American U.S. Constitution/Bill of Rights.
For sake of argument, let’s say Trump had a good idea on Venezuela, under the American system this Congress would have easily rubber-stamped any idea Trump came up with. Why did he violate Article 1 powers of Congress?
Trump instead chose the King George III lawless dictator model, bypassing Congress’ exclusive Article 1 authority. Like the 18th Century lawless English dictator, Trump violated his own constitutional Oath of Office by violating the powers of Congress.
You are so wrong. You ignored Prof. Turley’s legal argument and hide your name, which reveals how defective your view is.
He, she or it, is probably the same poster or bot using “just” and “anonymous” as pseudonyms. The rhetoric is the same in every case.
A hopeful Democrat apparatchik began its TDS appeal with this: What’s important for the so-called “Originalists” to understand was that 18th Century King George III was violating English laws established by the English Parliament and English judges.
It’s a wee bit amusing that this Democrat so-called “constitutional expert” believes that it was King George III that oppressed the Colonists. Rather than the freely elected English Parliament that were passing the tax laws applied to the Colonists, ordering the repression of the Colonists civil rights – and eventually ordering the British military to make war on the Colonists.
King George III sensibly did what every single monarch has done since 1649, when King Charles 1 was publicly executed like a common criminal by having his head lopped off in the public square for attempting to assert the Divine Right Of Kings over the elected Parliament.
King George III, like every English monarch since then and up to current day signed whatever tax bills, military orders, etc that the Parliament in power put in front of him and told him “sign your name here”. The lesson here isn’t King George – the lesson is that the most fearful suppression and violating of constitutional laws will come from elected politicians in Parliament as well as in the House and Senate.
And that pathetic display of a complete lack of historical and constitutional knowledge is brought to us by one of the Biden Bolshevik Boys who still want to try and sell their crap that Trump is attempting to be a king.
A supposed king, yet unlike Obama and Biden, complies with the decisions of even the most corrupt activist Democrat judge at the lowest levels of the court system.
Well done, President Trump. Thousands more young men and women are now saved from toxic drug overdoses this year. Keep Americans safe from drug dealers again!
I’m sure there will be a lot of screaming and yelling from the left and there will be much judicial scrutiny, but frankly without further examination or debate, since this operation was condemned by Russia, China, and Cuba, I say excellent.
mayfwriter: I laughed at your comment. Reminds me of the image created when someone puts his thumb over the end of a garden water hose, forcing the water to come out with more momentum/velocity against the resistance.
Haven’t settled on an opinion yet (Venezuela).
Dick Cheney Lives! (US Oil Interest) ~ 60%
or
Trump’s genuine concern Securing the North American Continent ~ 40%
If Trump is going to get this done then Nicaragua and Cuba will be next on the list. [Oh and Eastern French Canadia 😉 ]
It maybe both.
The democrats are already judge shopping to find one who will order their immediate release and return.
I am certain the trial will be in Miami. There are ways. . .
Cindy Bragg made an excellent (but admittedly indelicate) comment earlier regarding Trump’s perceived “frigidity of rugged individualism.”
You know, in retrospect, sometimes it takes the outsider, the unpolished, the truth-be-told one to change the direction of world order, despite adversity and/or political ridicule.**
I see today’s news as “one small step,” -only this time, on our planet and in our hemisphere. For years, we have watched Pac-Man Putin attempt to gobble up Europe and Pac-Men in China do the same in their continent (and beyond). It would be very soothing to see a united Western Hemisphere -respecting individual countries but united in belief of democratic principles of representation under constitutional republics, sharing both benefits and burdens among them and prepared to defend each among them. Although the Monroe Doctrine represents foreign policy and not law, I’m satisfied that its basic tenets afford the best protection of U.S. and hemispheric interests.
Trump’s “rugged individualism” has invoked risk. His personality has its risks as well. But I leave you with this:
https://quotlr.com/quotes-about-no-risk-no-reward/
——————————————–
**Think Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Thomas Edison (who was fired after demonstrating an experiment which resulted in spilled battery acid that ate through the floor and landed on his boss’ desk below), Harriet Tubman, Walt Disney (who was once fired from his newspaper job for “lacking imagination,” -can you believe it!), even Jesus Christ. (No, X/George and Anonymous, I am not likening Trump to Christ.)
_________________
*Of course media, first thing this morning, was predictably heavy on criticism (NBC referred to the unwarranted “U.S. aggression”) and others focused on any (leaving no stone unturned) negative response worldwide. All of MSM brought up Senator Mike Lee (because he is a Republican) who initially questioned the authority of the “strike.”
After reading the first sentence in Lee’s comment I startled my wife when I yelled out ‘You Weasel’ he fits the definition of a two-faced -0- politician!