U.S. operation in Venezuela: self-defense against a hybrid aggressor

The United States conducted a military operation on Venezuelan territory which, according to President Donald Trump, included a large-scale attack and resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his removal from the country.

January 03, 2026, The Venezuelan regime and its partners and supporters denounced the “military aggression” as a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty. This framing is convenient for the regime, but it does not describe the strategic problem that led to the episode. The operation should be analyzed as an act of self-defense against a hybrid aggressor: an actor that mimics the Venezuelan state apparatus, but whose legitimacy and state functions have been degraded to the point of operating, in practice, as a transnational threat infrastructure.

In substantive terms, sovereignty depends on legitimacy of origin, operational institutions, and legitimate monopoly of force under the rule of law. When a regime captures the state, eliminates political competition, and converts public structures into mechanisms of coercion and illicit profit, “sovereignty” begins to function as a rhetorical shield rather than an attribute of a representative state. This is the Venezuelan dilemma: the state apparatus has ceased to act as the institutional representative of the people and has begun to operate as a platform for illicit networks and hostile alliances.

For the SFS, this point is decisive: the January 3 operation does not occur in a vacuum. It is consistent with a process of formally characterizing the core of the regime as a narco-terrorist enterprise and with the interpretation that Venezuela has been converted into a vector of aggression against the U.S. and its allies.

The grounds for the action that led to Maduro’s arrest are solid. In March 2020, the Department of Justice announced charges of narco-terrorism against Maduro and other high-ranking officials, describing conspiracies linked to cocaine trafficking to the United States. This framework has been reinforced with recent administrative instruments.

On July 25, 2025, the Treasury Department (OFAC) included the Cartel de los Soles as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). In November 2025, the State Department announced the designation of the Cartel de los Soles as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

In recent years, Venezuela has also established itself as a base for extra-regional projection, a dimension that the SFS monitors through the VRIC Monitor. On December 30, 2025, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned individuals and entities in Venezuela and Iran for facilitating UAV capabilities, including coordinating production efforts in Venezuela with Iranian representatives and Venezuelan military personnel; the Treasury itself framed the package as action against the Iran-Venezuela arms trade.

Based on the public information available to date, the operation should be viewed primarily as the neutralization of the leadership of a criminal and hybrid organization that has masqueraded as a state actor and has been playing a role that is harmful to the security of the United States.

Maduro’s capture may have internal political consequences and open the door to realignments, but it is not an explicitly declared “regime change” and does not amount to a simple transition plan. It is essential to recognize that the illicit networks operating in Venezuela are deeply rooted, institutions have been eroded, and the cycle of oppression, corruption, and crime continues unabated.