Trump's bid for hemispheric supremacy
Engelsberg Ideas••world
Key Points:
- On 3 January 2026, US Army Delta Force successfully captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a pre-dawn raid in Caracas, ending his rule and nullifying a $50 million bounty, with both now detained in Brooklyn facing narcoterrorism charges.
- The operation, named Absolute Resolve, was enabled by extensive military force, cyber operations, and intelligence, as well as a strategic US policy shift under President Trump aimed at combating narcotics, migration, and foreign adversaries in the Western Hemisphere.
- Following Maduro’s capture, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed the interim presidency under US influence, with Washington controlling Venezuela’s oil sector and guiding a three-phase plan—stabilization, recovery, and transition—toward
