Donald J Trump's invasion of Venezuela on Saturday 3rd January 2026, the arrest and abduction of Nicolas Maduro, that country's prime minister and his incarceration in a top security prison in New York, have been roundly condemned by most of the rest of the world.
From Antonio Guterres, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer, Pedro Sanchez, Pope Leo XIV, Ursula van der Leyen and others, even Russia and China, the reaction has been loud and clear - condemnation.
Background
The US president has ordered the interception of suspected narcolanchas off the coast of Venezuela for some weeks. Several boats have been sunk, others boarded and taken, resulting in a number of deaths.
The Orange One has been threatening to invade Venezuela for a while; now he's done it. This despite pleas from Maduro for talks to calm things down.
una narcolancha [EL PAIS]
Has Trump (79) lost his marbles? Is this behaviour going to win him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2026? I think not.
US soldiers attacked several Venezuelan military bases while the Special Forces - in a very slick professional operation - managed to capture the president of that country and his wife Cilia and take them to a detention centre in up-state New York. The Pentagon said that Maduro will be tried for criminal offences. The attacks on Venezuela would cease immediately.
[Video courtesy of La Sexta]
There were demonstrations against American imperialism in a number of cities throughout the USA and in Europe, where exiled venezolanos turned out in force in Paris, Barcelona and Bilbao. Pleased that Maduro is apparently gone, they did not approve of Trump's methods.
Lenox Napier, a Britsh-born journalist and blogger long resident in Andalucia, remarked: "The whole enterprise was a bit similar to Putin’s 2022 attack on Ukraine, the buildup of forces on the frontier and so on, but evidently turned out to be rather more successful".
Napier went on to speculate: "Will China feel that it’s their turn now with Taiwan? We shall see".
Lenox Napier [Almeria Hoy]
Spain’s reaction to this remarkable coup understandably varied acccording to which party you represent. President Sánchez (PSOE) called for a de-escalation: “Both International law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations must be respected”.
Sánchez, in line with the EU, avoided expressly condemning the US operation, yet coalition partner Sumar denounced the attacks against Venezuela as “imperialist aggression".
Alberto Núñez Feijóo (PP), out of touch as usual, was insisting on a quick transition led by Edmundo González (the doddery old Venezuelan politician who lives in exile in Madrid).
The ex-Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias didn't mince his words: "They're bombing to steal their oil and impose a puppet government."
Gabriel Rufián (ERC spokesperson) said:
"Bombing another country is not war, it's aggression, and detaining the President of that country is not an arrest, it's a kidnapping."
[Gabriel Rufian video by La Sexta]
We learned from El Mundo that Maduro will be tried for "narcoterrorism and possessing destructive arms against the USA".
News agency Reuters posted: "The Russian Foreign Ministry called the US strike on Venezuela 'deeply concerning and condemnable'.
Argentina’s President Milei, true to form, opined: "Freedom moves forward, hooray for freedom, Goddammit’.
The pundit Chris Hedges wrote: "The kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife solidifies America’s role as a gangster state. Violence does not generate peace. It generates violence. The immolation of international and humanitarian law, as the US and Israel have done in Gaza, and as took place in Caracas, generates a world without laws, a world of failed states, warlords, rouge imperial powers and perpetual violence and chaos…"
[Chris Hedges courtesy of PBS]
The American vice-president JD Vance (41) tweeted: “The president offered multiple off-ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States. Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says."
What else has happened?
Around 600,000 Venezuelans live in exile in Spain, on the coasts and in other tourist areas. Many wealthier folk have infiltrated the smartest barrios in Madrid, where, having managed to get their money out of Caracas, they have invested in real-estate.
We saw on the TV news that a large Venezuelan celebration was held in Madrid on Saturday afternoon "supported by both the PP and Vox".
One anonymous demonstrator told reporters: "I thought the Americans would solve this in a day at most, but if it's true that they captured Maduro in just three hours... that's a whole different ballgame".
In a live speech, more a "babbling monologue", which strayed off-topic a number of times, Trump told reporters and the watching TV audience on Saturday afternoon (CET) that the invasion of Venezuela was " ..... an assault not seen since World War II".
“They took our oil infrastructure. We never had a president who did anything about it”, he told us, with a clear jibe at former president Joe Biden.
[Red Bubble]
“We are going to run the country until the arrival of a proper turnover of power”, he said.
“The oil business – we’re going to have our large American companies fix the infrastructure, and we are ready for a second, much larger attack if necessary”.
Did Secretary of State Marco Rubio (54) standing beside him look faintly embarrassed?
“National security, just like tariffs – make our country rich”, Trump continued.
“A year ago, we were a dead country, no longer”, said Trump, unerringly alienating half of the American population once again.
Following Trump's speech, we heard from his senior advisers.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio (54) warned: "Don’t play games with this president, because it won’t turn out well".
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth (45) "bigged up" the US troops: "We showed guts, grit, gallantry and glory", said in an alliterative moment (Napier).
The BBC dubbed the event: "A rather extraordinary press briefing".
The Guardian covered the Mar-a-Lago speeches here.
Footnote:
Trump, Rubio and Hegseth were born under the star sign Gemini, so are literally "two-faced".
Trump [BBC] Marco Rubio [La Sexta ] Pete Hegseth [CNN en español]
Vance is a Leo ("Confident and creative, attention-seeking"). Although I don't believe in "The Stars", does this make it likely that if Trump does what the Law says and stands down at the end of his current second term as president, JD Vance will be the next Republican presidential candidate?
And then the 48th president of the USA?
JD Vance [Photo courtesy of The White House]
Surely even the US voters couldn't be that stupid again ..... Or could they?
Back to Venezuela
The exiled official opposition leader (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Maria Corina Machado, speaking from an undisclosed site, said: “The time of freedom has arrived, and we are ready to take power”.
However, 20Minutos reports that Trump has ruled out María Corina Machado to lead Venezuela: "She doesn't have the internal support or the respect of the country".
Instead, Trump has chosen Maduro’s vice-president Delcy Rodríguez to take over.
Maria Corina Machado [BBC] Delcy Rodriguez [Cadena SER]
From "The Other 98%", we are told:
"Let’s strip away the euphemisms: this is invasion, not enforcement.
There was no imminent threat to American soil that justified the use of force under international law.
Venezuela sits on some of the largest proven oil reserves in the world, and its economic and geopolitical position has long made it a target of U.S. political and economic pressure".
[PolitiFact]
Later
A few other reactions:
The Venezuelan Attorney General condemned the "cowardly imperial attack"
against civilians in Venezuela. He also demanded the release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Brazil's president Lula da Silva denounces the "unacceptable" US attack and the capture of Maduro and warns that it paves the way for a world where "the law of the strongest" prevails.
[El Confidencial]
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Saturday said China is deeply shocked by and strongly condemns the US' blatant use of force against a sovereign state and action against its president.
The far-right French politician Marine Le Pen criticises the US attack on Venezuela.
Finally, Trump issues a stark warning to Colombia's Gustavo Petro: he asserts that Petro will be the next US target after Maduro.
© Paul Whitelock
Abbreviations used:
BBC - British Broadcasting Corporation
CNN - Cable News Network
CET - Central European Time
ERC - Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
EU - European Union
MSN - Microsoft News
PP - Partido Popular
PSOE - Partido Soialista de Obreros Españoles
PBS - Public Broadcasting Service
UK - United Kingdom
US - United States
USA - United States of America
Sources:
ABC, BBC, El Mundo, Lenox Napier, MSN, Paul Whitelock, SKY News, The Huffington Post
Pictures:
Almeria Hoy, BBC, CNN en español, Cadena SER, El Confidencial, La Sexta, PBS, PolitiFact, Red Bubble, Shutterstock
Tags:
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Almeria Hoy, Antonio Guterres, ABC, BBC, CNN en español, Cadena SER, CET, Chris Hedges, Delcy Rodriguez, Edmundo González, El Confidencial, El Mundo, Emmanuel Macron, ERC, EU, Friedrich Merz, Gabriel Rufián, Gustavo Petro, JD Vance, Keir Starmer, La Sexta, Lenox Napier, Lula da Silva, Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, Maria Corina Machado, Marine Le Pen, MSN, Nicolas Maduro, Pablo Iglesias, PP, PSOE, Paul Whitelock, Pedro Sanchez, PBS, Podemos, PolitiFact, Pope Leo XIV, Red Bubble, Shutterstock, SKY News, Sumar, The Huffington Post, US, USA, Ursula van der Leyen