The woke left and woke right are coming out in force to defend Nicholas Maduro and to attack Donald Trump for his operation to arrest him and bring him to the United States. 

There is still much to learn about the operation, but by all accounts, it was one of the most audacious and successful operations in memory. Venezuela was warned ahead of time that the US intended to depose Maduro, and there has been a massive military buildup over the past several months. Russia and China have been sending weapons and advisors, yet despite all the help of our adversaries and prior warning, the US went in, captured Maduro, and left with hardly a scratch. 

If reports are correct, one aircraft was damaged, and one American was wounded. 

Biden removed Trump’s sanctions on Maduro if he "promised" to hold a free and fair election…

Maduro laughed in Biden’s face.
He’s no longer laughing. pic.twitter.com/CPviDbYoVW

— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) January 3, 2026

Our adversaries and "allies" are appalled, of course, because Venezuela is supposedly a sovereign state. Not sure how anybody who supported Obama and Biden's color revolutions and the military action in Libya could say any of that with a straight face, but then again, these people are shameless. 

? BREAKING: Foreigners waving communist flags have TAKEN OVER Times Square in NYC, DEMANDING the release of Nicolas Maduro

We need to start sending MASS GROUPS of ICE agents to these events

Round them up and send them to some communist hellhole pic.twitter.com/PzMEs6tUJo

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 3, 2026

On the left, everybody from the hard communists to the soft communists is angry, as are Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, of course. All are united by the belief that the United States is in the wrong no matter what. 

here’s tucker carlson defending communist dictator nicolas maduro because he’s allegedly “socially conservative.”

in other words, tucker & the woke right have no problem with communist regimes, in as long as they align on certain social issues.
pic.twitter.com/Q1a7E5nfDO

— Mikale Olson (@realmikolson) January 3, 2026

There is lot of talk about the legality of the operation and the sovereignty of Venezuela, but all of that is a smokescreen. Maduro was, by any measure, an enemy of the United States and of his own people. There are 8 million Venezuelans who have been driven out of their country; nothing like that happens except in a failed state. The United States suffers a great deal of spillover from conditions in Venezuela, and there is no reason why we should tolerate the inflow of drugs, the Tren de Aragua invasion, and having to take in refugees due to Maduro's destruction of his country. 

Somehow, Candace finds a way to blame “Zionists” for regime change in Venezuela.

Also, this was nothing like Afghanistan and Iraq. We launched one operation and got Maduro with no U.S. personnel killed. pic.twitter.com/GKA2238WmZ

— John William Sherrod (@jwsherrod) January 3, 2026

Maduro is allied with our enemies, including Iran and Hezbollah. I fail to understand any argument that says that a declared enemy of the United States should be immune from retaliation. 

Reminder that Venezuela has deep ties to the Islamic regime in Iran and Hezbollah. They coordinated drug trafficking to the US, killing over 70,000 Americans.

Maduro is an evil man, and it’s time for him to pay for his crimes. pic.twitter.com/M6Xa1QwiFr

— Dr. Maalouf ‏ (@realMaalouf) January 3, 2026

When the United States, the Communists, the Europeans, the Iranians, the Chinese, the Russians, and most of the Democratic Party are united, you should be inclined to believe that something really good happened. 

??? UN SECRETARY-GENERAL "DEEPLY ALARMED" BY U.S. RAID... SAYS INTERNATIONAL LAW "NOT RESPECTED"

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is not mincing words:

"Independently of the situation in Venezuela, these developments constitute a dangerous precedent.

The… https://t.co/uihuTibvAA pic.twitter.com/ayMDy4PqgZ

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 3, 2026

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is not mincing words:

"Independently of the situation in Venezuela, these developments constitute a dangerous precedent.

The Secretary-General continues to emphasize the importance of full respect—by all—of international law, including the U.N. Charter. 

He's deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected."

Guterres said the U.S. action "potentially has worrying implications for the region."

Venezuela has formally requested an emergency session of the UN Security Council in New York.

The same Security Council currently presided over by Somalia.

Guterres called on all actors to "engage in inclusive dialogue and respect human rights and the rule of law."

The international battle lines are hardening. 

The only serious question that should be asked and answered is whether the world will be made better or worse after this operation. The questions of legality are based on inventions. Maduro made clear he was not playing by the rules of international law, so he had no right to the protections that stem from it. There is no world sovereign, so "laws" are loose agreements among peers. They are a fiction, if a useful one at times. 

“For his billionaire buddies”. Guy’s a senator and tweets like a 15 year old girl. https://t.co/kBt2gT00Fk

— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) January 3, 2026

No law allows Maduro to send drugs to the US or Europe, so no law protects him from the consequences. 

Bombing Venezuela, Nigeria and Iran with no legal basis, coherent rationale or even public debate. And Trump seems to just be getting started.

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) January 3, 2026

Ben Rhodes was one of the architects of Obama's Middle East policies that worked so well, and helped hand Crimea over to Russia. 

Venezuelans have every right to be thrilled at the potential for change, although as of now, it is only potential. Anybody who knows anything about what has happened to that country should be thrilled to have Maduro gone. 

During the U.S. attacks on Venezuela they reportedly also struck an Iranian factories producing Shahed drones. The Islamic republic has used Venezuela as a South America base thanks to Maduro for many years. Venezuela has also been used as a money laundering playground for the…

— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) January 3, 2026

During the U.S. attacks on Venezuela they reportedly also struck an Iranian factories producing Shahed drones. The Islamic republic has used Venezuela as a South America base thanks to Maduro for many years. Venezuela has also been used as a money laundering playground for the regime with hundreds of millions (if not billions) being laundered through Caracas. Khamenei has reason to worry after this decisive action from the United States.

Maduro was a bad guy who was bad for his country, bad for stability in the world, and was conducting gray zone warfare against the United States. As long as we don't actually occupy the country, everybody will likely be better off. 

Zohran Mandani has declared the capture of Maduro and his wife to be "an act of war and a violation of federal and international law." Even with Trump's statements on regime change, a court would still likely reject a challenge to the arrest as unlawful in light of past cases...

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 3, 2026

Anybody who celebrated Obama and Clinton's intervention in Libya and Syria, which made the world much worse, should sit down, shut up, and watch how it is done right.