The President Nicolás Maduro he was captured together with his wife by Delta Forcethe main one US Army special unit, following numerous air raids on the capital Caracas that hit the military base of Fuerte Tiuna and other military objectives. After the US attack the Venezuelan government declared it state of emergency.
They had already been going strong for months tensions between Venezuela and the United Stateswith US President Donald Trump accusing the Venezuelan government of Nicolás Maduro of encouraging the illegal entry of drugs into US territory and which led to the creation of Southern Spear (Southern Spear), the military operation launched by United States in November 2025 with the aim of combating drug trafficking and terrorist groups in Latin America and the Caribbean.
What President Nicolás Maduro risks
There are currently no details regarding Where Nicolàs Maduro was brought along with his wife, nor what are his conditions. The vice president of the Venezuelan government Delcy Rodriguez he asked for proof of his being alive. But what does the Venezuelan President risk?
The US government has declared that Nicolás Maduro will be subjected to judgment in US territory (the probable charges will be of drug trafficking And narcoterrorism). Already since 2020During the first term of the Trump administration, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York with “narcoterrorism”, corruption and conspiracy to import cocaine and other narcotic substances in US territory. During his second term, President Trump then designated two Venezuelan drug trafficking gangs, Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles, as foreign terrorist organizations (Foreign Terrorist Organizations), and claimed that the latter was led by Maduro himself. The US State Department had announced a reward of 50 million dollars in August 2025 to those who would provide information for his arrest or conviction.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said:
Nicolás Maduro was arrested by US personnel to stand trial for criminal charges in the United States and that the military action was put in place to protect and defend those who executed the arrest warrant.
Maduro’s diplomatic immunity
A crucial point concerns the presumed diplomatic immunity by Nicolás Maduro. Despite the Venezuelan President and his government are not recognized by the United States government, the diplomatic immunity normally enjoyed by Heads of State would not be lost.
According to the customary international lawin fact, during his mandate a Head of State cannot be detained, arrested or captured by the forces of another state, regardless of political recognition of the government in question.
The Heads of State can in fact enjoy absolute immunity which protects them from any proceedings abroad for any act they carry out in a private or official capacity during their mandate. Therefore, although the United States they don’t recognize Maduro as legitimate presidentthis position does not eliminate the protection guaranteed by international law against the use of force on the Heads of State of sovereign countries by foreign states.
The limits to diplomatic immunity
Yes, there are gods limits therefore the representatives of the State cannot benefit from diplomatic immunity:
- if a state expressly waives to the immunity of its representative
- if mandate ends of a head of state, a head of government or a minister of foreign affairs, they no longer enjoy immunity for acts carried out in a private capacity
- some international tribunals, such as the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, can judge the criminal responsibility of a state representative without taking into account any immunities
For more serious crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, apartheid and torture there is still debate on the international level, but none of these cases seems to concern President Nicolás Maduro nor the accusations attributed to him by the US government.
Use of force and violation of the principle of sovereignty according to the UN Charter
According to the Charter of the United Nations And prohibited from using force against territorial integrity or political independence of any state.
In fact, according to article 2.4, there can’t be armed interventions unilateral in foreign territory violating the principle of respect for sovereigntyunless the right to self-defense provided for in Article 51, subject to authorization by the Security Council. However, something must have occurred previous armed attack or an imminent threat to the State in question.
According to these elements, therefore, the air attack and capture of the Venezuelan president would represent a violation of the principles of sovereignty and non-intervention.
International reactions
The governments of Russia, Iran and Cuba have strongly condemned the US military operation in Venezuela. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Fly he defined it “US armed aggression against Venezuela” while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Iranian a “violation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Venezuela”. Also Cubaa country that has always been a strong ally of Venezuela, has openly sided with Venezuela: Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez condemned the incident, speaking of a “criminal attack” of Washington and asking for theintervention of the international community.
While theEuropean Union called for moderation, the European country that immediately expressed its opinion on the matter, calling for de-escalation and respect for the United Nations Charter, was the Spain: President Pedro Sanchez’s government also offered its own support in the mediation process.
As for the United States, numerous Democratic senators and lawmakers have criticized hard there legality of the operationalso due to the lack of consultation and approval by the US Congress.
Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee, however, declared that the operation was carried out according toArticle II of the US Constitutionwhich in section 2 gives the President the powers of commander in chief of the army. The operation, according to Lee, was carried out to protect US personnel from “an actual or imminent attack” by Venezuela.
What could happen now: possible scenarios
As we follow the developments of the story, they emerge different scenarios. First of all, the operation wanted to underline and highlight powers such as China and Russia the role of the United States in America, demonstrating that, in case of failure to comply with the diplomatic channelsthe United States is willing touse of force. A sort of revisiting of the principles of the Monroe Doctrine, the ideology enunciated by US President James Monroe in 1823 which was used to justify US military interventions in neighboring countries.Latin America.
In this context of strong international instability and lack of further details, the scenarios could be the following: according to the Venezuelan Constitution, in the absence of the President his vice to take his place temporarily. So it would be Delcy Rodriguez to replace President Maduro until new elections. In the meantime, a de-escalation could take place with theUnited Nations intervention, which could reverse the situation and lead to release of the Venezuelan President. The second scenario could instead see the dissolution of Maduro’s government and the resignations of its senior leaders. The last scenario, the least desirable, is the military takeover of the country.
