The United States military detained Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro early Saturday morning during a military operation and transferred him to a detention center in New York, according to US officials.
US President Donald Trump has long pressured Maduro to step down from power. Trump has repeatedly accused the Venezuelan leader of supporting drug trafficking networks, which Washington has designated as terrorist organizations.
The detention of a sitting head of state through a military operation has drawn international attention, raising questions about how the United States justifies the action under international law.
According to US authorities, Maduro was detained with military assistance at the request of the Department of Justice. A New York court had earlier filed charges against Maduro, his wife, his son, two political figures, and an alleged leader of an international criminal network. The charges include terrorism, drug trafficking, and weapons-related offenses.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that the accused individuals “will face trial in American courts.”
Legal Justification and International Law Concerns
International law experts say the Trump administration has complicated the legal debate by presenting the operation as a targeted law enforcement action while also signaling the start of long-term control over Venezuela.
Jeremy Paul, a professor of constitutional law at Northeastern University, told Reuters that the reasoning lacks consistency. “Claiming this was a military operation carried out for law enforcement purposes and then saying the country must be governed is not logically consistent,” Paul said.
Under the US Constitution, the authority to declare war rests with Congress, although the president serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In the past, limited military actions have been justified under presidential authority in the name of national interest.
However, under international law, the use of force against another country is prohibited except in limited circumstances such as self-defense or with authorization from the United Nations Security Council.
Legal experts argue that drug trafficking does not meet the threshold of armed conflict required to justify military force. Matthew Waxman, a professor of national security law at Columbia University, told Reuters, “Criminal charges alone do not give a state the legal authority to use military force to remove a foreign government.”
Trump Announces Temporary US Control, Comparisons With Past Operations
Speaking Saturday night at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, President Trump said the United States would temporarily take control of Venezuela. According to Trump, the country will remain under US control until a safe transfer of power is ensured.
“We will run it in an orderly manner. We will operate it professionally. But this will only last until power is transferred safely, properly, and responsibly,” Trump said. Trump’s remarks are expected to raise serious international concerns over Venezuelan sovereignty, international law, and regional stability.
The United States has previously detained criminal suspects from countries including Libya, but those operations were conducted with the consent of local governments. The current operation has been compared to the 1989 arrest of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges.
Legal experts say that due to the absence of an effective international enforcement mechanism, even if the operation is deemed illegal, the likelihood of the United States facing concrete accountability remains low.
“In practical terms, there does not appear to be any legal body capable of taking decisive action against the United States,” Paul said.
