The Capture of Maduro and Avoiding Another Iraq Nation-Building Debacle

• President Trump’s decisive military operation successfully captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, removing a narcoterrorist regime that enabled massive drug trafficking, illegal migration, and criminal gangs threatening U.S. security.
• Maduro’s regime served as a strategic base for U.S. adversaries, including China (over $100 billion in loans for influence and oil), Russia ($17-34 billion in support), Iran, Cuba (with troops and intelligence), and Hezbollah.
• The capture marks a major reset in hemispheric security, expelling foreign influences from Venezuela and halting threats to America’s southern border and drug supply chains.
• The Trump administration issued a strong ultimatum to the post-Maduro government (now led by acting president Delcy Rodríguez): expel foreign spies and agents or face additional U.S. military action, backed by oil shipment blockades.
• Learning from the Iraq disaster after Saddam Hussein’s fall—where dissolving the army and purging Ba’athists created anarchy, insurgency, and ISIS—the U.S. avoids repeating nation-building mistakes by retaining existing regime structures rather than installing unprepared opposition leaders like Edmundo González or María Corina Machado.
• CIA assessments showed the opposition lacked the organization to govern amid resistance from military, cartels, and officials, leading to a pragmatic approach of working with Rodríguez (following secret 2025 meetings) to prevent a dangerous power vacuum.
• A three-phase plan focuses on stabilizing the country (addressing food, medicine, electricity shortages, and crime), controlling and rebuilding the oil industry (costing hundreds of billions), and eventually installing a new government through reforms and elections.
• The strategy emphasizes “America First” pressure tactics—using military threats and economic leverage—without deploying U.S. troops for endless occupation or traditional nation-building.
• Trump has indicated long-term U.S. oversight of Venezuela and its oil sector could last years, aiming to rebuild the economy, undercut Russian funding through lower oil prices, and force fair market deals on China.
• This unprecedented approach delivers a win against enemies in the hemisphere while rejecting the failed globalist interventions of the past.

Read the full story: https://amgreatness.com/2026/01/09/the-capture-of-maduro-and-avoiding-another-iraq-nation-building-debacle/