January 5, 2026 |
Wyoming’s top leaders announced their broad support over the weekend for the U.S. strikes on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
The Army’s elite Delta Force stormed Maduro’s home in Caracas, taking the former union boss, his wife and others into custody.
President Donald Trump described the operation.
U.S. Senator John Barrasso, who is on record describing former U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision during his term to turn to Venezuela for oil rather than develop domestic supplies as “reckless.” Barrasso described Maduro as “a dictator,” adding, “Venezuela, America, and the world are safer with this dangerous dictator removed from power.”
Senator Cynthia Lummis echoed the message in a statement on social media, “This corrupt dictator ran a narco-terrorist operation that poisoned American communities for years while oppressing the Venezuelan people.”
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon also addressed the weekend strike on social media, saying that Maduro was a corrupt and undemocratic leader and his regime “was not a product of free and fair elections recognized by democratic standards.”
Wyoming’s governor added, “The Venezuelan people have suffered under his repression and corruption for years. They now have a chance to be free.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife during the operation and flew them out of the country. Trump later told Fox News that Maduro was detained by U.S. special operations forces and transported by helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship in the Caribbean, before being transferred to New York.
U.S. officials said the strikes followed accusations that Maduro was running a “narco-state” and had rigged Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election. Maduro, 63, a former bus driver who succeeded Hugo Chávez in 2013, has long denied those allegations, claiming the United States was seeking control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth summed it up this way.
Critics, mostly Democrats, note that Congress did not authorize the attack. Hollywood celebrities also denounced the raid on Ortega at his well-guarded confines inside a military command center. Ortega was seen on camera after arriving in New York wearing handcuffs while being walked before cameras.
In the video, the ousted dictator can be heard saying “Good Night, Happy New Year,” to the federal agents surrounding him.
Ortega will be in court later Monday to address a variety of criminal charges.
