FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — January 4, 2026
Washington, DC — The Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect (ACERE) warns that the capture and removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from Caracas by U.S. forces is extraordinarily dangerous for the Venezuelan and U.S. peoples and for the entire region.
This pre-dawn operation carried out on January 3 has violated Venezuela’s sovereignty and undermined basic principles of international law and the UN Charter. It has also heightened uncertainty about the future of U.S. relations with Venezuela and the region, and brings us closer to a direct military confrontation with another country in our hemisphere.
Actions like this run counter to American interests. Far from strengthening national security, they compound existing risks and create new ones. Normalizing the use of force and extraterritorial “arrests” as political tools invites retaliation, and strains relations with neighbors across the region—whether allies or not. Legal and policy experts have also warned that the stated rationale for this operation blurs the line between “law enforcement” and an open-ended political intervention, deepening the danger of escalation and long-term blowback.
Four arguments have been used by the Trump administration to justify this military operation. First, that this is the capture of a person accused of drug-trafficking charges by U.S. courts; yet former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández—convicted in U.S. federal court of serious drug-trafficking crimes—was recently pardoned by President Trump, underscoring a glaring inconsistency in the administration’s claimed anti-narcotics logic. Second, that Maduro leads a gang responsible for terror in Venezuela—an assertion not substantiated publicly with evidence and questioned by international bodies. Third, that Maduro is not Venezuela’s legitimate president—an assumption heavily disputed internationally and not a lawful basis for unilateral military force. Fourth, that this operation is meant to “take back oil that was stolen” from U.S. companies—ignoring that disputes arising from past nationalizations have been litigated for years through international arbitration and compensation claims, including by ConocoPhillips and Exxon, while Chevron continues extracting and marketing Venezuelan crude.
Many observers warn that this regime-change operation offers no credible clarity about what comes next—especially amid rhetoric suggesting the United States will “run” Venezuela. Contrary to President Trump’s stated desire to avoid wars and loss of life, this action could pull the United States into a new quagmire that needlessly endangers U.S. service members and, given regional proximity, our own civilians and communities.
The American public does not want a war with Venezuela. A CBS News/YouGov poll found large majorities opposed to U.S. military action and significant support for requiring congressional approval—reflecting a clear understanding that wars of regime change, especially those tied to access to oil, chiefly benefit the arms industry and pro-war lobbies, not ordinary people in the United States or Venezuela.
Certain political and lobbying sectors have attempted to blame the Cuban government for the survival of the Venezuelan government, and have alleged—without evidence—that Maduro’s intelligence apparatus is controlled by Cuba. There is no proof of these claims, which serve only to redirect attention and raise the risk of widening the conflict to yet another nearby country, one that continues to suffer the worst economic and humanitarian crises in decades. Decisions based on faulty intelligence have dragged the United States into endless wars—from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan—with incalculable costs for our nation.
ACERE was founded to promote understanding, dialogue, and engagement—not imposition and disregard for other nations’ sovereignty—and to reject the logic of “maximum pressure” that repeatedly isolates the United States, narrows the space for constructive relations, and produces human and political harm without sustainable solutions. Over six decades of military operations, collective punishment and broad unilateral coercive measures against Cuba have failed to bring about regime change, and only hardened conflicts. Repeating that playbook in Venezuela—through unlawful military intervention—invites a prolonged crisis, and a massive loss of international credibility.
For these reasons, ACERE calls for:
- Immediate de-escalation and an end to any further military action.
- Rule of law and due process: any allegations of criminal conduct must be pursued through lawful mechanisms—such as recognized extradition processes or submission of evidence to a competent international judicial forum—rather than unilateral seizure by force.
- Respect for Venezuelan sovereignty and multilateral channels: disputes must be addressed through diplomacy and international legal processes compatible with international law, not unilateral coercion.
- Congressional oversight and accountability to prevent U.S. foreign policy from sliding into open-ended conflict without authorization or a credible exit strategy.
ACERE reiterates that Venezuela’s future belongs to the Venezuelan people. Real and lasting change is built through negotiation, cooperation, and respect—not military operations that endanger our own soldiers, citizens, and national interests.
