The U.S. captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro at around 2:00am on Jan. 3, 2026, on charges for narcoterrorism, or terrorism associated with the selling or buying of illegal drugs, usually containing violence and heavily associated with politics. It was framed as a law enforcement mission supported by military force.

Shortly after Maduro was captured, Delcy Rodriguez, his vice president, was sworn in, much to the people’s rejoice. Many Venezuelan people disliked Maduro’s presidency and celebrated when the U.S. captured him. At first, the U.S. government distrusted Rodriguez, as she had worked with Maduro, but she has won the trust of the U.S. government for now, according to David Brunnstrom at Reuters.

Maria Corina Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has given her award to Trump in an attempt to gain his support. Trump took the award, but the Nobel Foundation has claimed that the award cannot be passed from person to person, meaning Trump did not actually get the Nobel Peace prize.

In reality, it may not be as simple as we think.

Trump has made 2 demands with Venezuela after capturing Maduro: First, it must cut economic ties with Russia, China, Iran, and Cuba–an act in which they’ve all condemned for violating international law. Second, Venezuela has to sell oil exclusively to the U.S.-Venezuela has rich oil reserves, with the first deal being made with the U.S. for 500 hundred million dollars.

As of writing this article, Trump has claimed that the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela and he is threatening other countries, demanding 30-50 million barrels of oil and claiming “…that money will be controlled by [him]… to ensure that it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States”.

Maduro and his wife are detained in New York as of the publishing of this article, pleading innocence to drug trafficking and other charges, whereas Rodriguez is gaining the support from her people in Venezuela.