The Legality of Venezuelan President Maduro’s Capture

By: Gillian Ho
Edited by: Brooke Sharp and Sophie Leonard

On January 3, 2026, United States military forces conducted a coordinated operation in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were transported to the United States to face federal criminal charges. [1] Seizing a sitting head of state by foreign military force has sparked debate among legal scholars, diplomats, and state actors over its legality under international and domestic law and its implications for the global legal order.

The U.S. operation, code-named Absolute Resolve, involved a special military action accompanied by targeted strikes and the coordinated extraction of Maduro from Venezuelan territory. The Trump Administration justified the capture by pointing to outstanding U.S. federal indictments against Maduro for narco-terrorism and weapons offenses, arguing that law enforcement mechanisms had failed and that extraordinary measures were necessary to execute the arrest warrant. [2]

The United Nations (UN) Charter, the fundamental treaty that defines the principles of international relations, states in Article 2(4) that member states “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” [3] The U.S. military operation without Venezuelan consent or Security Council mandate constitutes a violation of this fundamental norm, according to the United Nations. [4] No plausible self-defense argument exists. The alleged drug trafficking activities that President Donald Trump blames the operations on do not meet the threshold of an armed attack recognized under international law. This is because Article 51 of the UN Charter defines that self-defense requires an armed attack, which the United States did not face from Venezuela. [5]

Additionally, under customary international law, a sitting head of state enjoys immunity from prosecution in foreign domestic courts while in office. [6] This immunity serves to protect the functioning and equality of sovereign states. Thus, the immunity means that any attempt by another state to arrest, indict, or prosecute that leader while they remain in office would generally constitute a violation of international law. This immunity is absolute during the term of office and covers both official and private acts. 

A recently published Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion concluded that President Donald Trump was not constrained by domestic law in authorizing the U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. [7] Referencing a 1989 OLC memorandum written by William Barr, the opinion argued that Article II of the Constitution grants the President authority, as commander-in-chief, to deploy military forces in support of overseas law enforcement operations without prior congressional authorization, provided the action does not constitute “war” in the constitutional sense. The memorandum did not decide whether the operation complied with international law, explaining that international law does not restrict the president’s authority under U.S. domestic law. But ultimately, the legal framework in which the United States analyzed President Trump’s authority to order the Maduro operation does not include any domestic legal limit based on international law; consequently, international law is treated as irrelevant to assessing the legality of his decision under U.S. law.

Furthermore, law experts, including Prof. Marc Weller of the University of Cambridge, have described the Maduro operation as an unlawful use of force that undermines international legal norms prohibiting unilateral military intervention. [8] Weller argued that sanctioning such conduct by powerful states risks eroding the normative constraints that have governed international relations since World War II, weakening the credibility of Western objections to other unlawful invasions, and inviting similar conduct by other powers. In December 1989, the United States launched Operation Just Cause and invaded Panama to remove General Manuel Noriega, whom U.S. federal courts had indicted on drug trafficking charges. [8] U.S. forces entered Panama, engaged Panamanian troops, and ultimately captured Noriega, transporting him to the United States, where a federal court convicted him. U.S. courts upheld the prosecution, rejecting challenges to jurisdiction and the manner of his capture. [9] However, the U.N. General Assembly and many international law scholars criticized the invasion as a violation of the prohibition on the use of force and Panama’s sovereignty. [10] Observers now draw parallels to the Maduro operation because both actions involve the use of U.S. military force to seize a sitting foreign leader on criminal charges. These actions raise similar debates over the relationship between domestic criminal jurisdiction and international law constraints on cross-border force.

While the United States grounds its action in domestic criminal jurisdiction and executive authority, the broader body of international law suggests the operation was unlawful. The case illustrates the collective legal framework governing the use of force in international relations. Currently, the consensus of international legal scholarship and diplomatic critique positions the capture as an illegal breach of Venezuela’s sovereignty and a potentially dangerous precedent for the international order.

Think of the international system like a neighborhood where everyone agrees on two basic rules: you don’t break into someone else’s house, and if someone commits a crime, you go through agreed-upon processes (like police cooperation or courts), not vigilante action. The Maduro operation breaks both principles at once. By sending the military into another country to make an arrest, the U.S. acted less like a participant in a shared legal system and more like a global enforcer deciding when rules apply. This capture shifts geopolitical ideas from “we all follow the same rules” to “the strongest country can decide what justice looks like.”

The bigger concern is precedent. If this becomes acceptable, other powerful countries could start doing the same thing. Imagine rival nations justifying military raids to capture leaders they accuse of crimes. Even if the original goal (holding someone accountable) seems reasonable, the method opens the door to a much less stable world where force replaces process.

Notes:

1. Global Conflict Tracker. “U.S. Confrontation with Venezuela | Global Conflict Tracker,” 2026. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/instability-venezuela. 

2. ‌Bekiempis, Victoria, and Richard Luscombe. “Deposed Maduro Pleads Not Guilty after Capture in Shock US Attack on Venezuela.” the Guardian. The Guardian, January 6, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/05/maduro-pleads-not-guilty.

3. United Nations. “Article 2(4) Contents,” June 26, 1945. https://legal.un.org/repertory/art2/english/rep_supp7_vol1_art2_4.pdf. 

4. OHCHR. “UN Experts Condemn US Aggression against Venezuela,” 2026. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/01/un-experts-condemn-us-aggression-against-venezuela. 

5. Un.org. “Chapter VII: Article 51 — Charter of the United Nations — Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs — Codification Division Publications,” 2016. https://legal.un.org/repertory/art51.shtml. 

6. Milisavljevic, Bojan. “The Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction.” Nauka, Bezbednost, Policija 20, no. 1 (2015): 17–30. https://doi.org/10.5937/nbp1501017m. 

7. Bertrand, Natasha, and Zachary Cohen. “Classified Legal Memo Argues Trump Wasn’t Constrained by US or International Law for Maduro Capture Operation.” CNN, January 13, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/politics/memo-maduro-capture-olc. 

8. Weller, Marc. “The US Capture of Venezuela’s Maduro: An International Legal Analysis,” University of Cambridge, January 8, 2026. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-us-capture-of-venezuelas-maduro-an-international-legal-analysis?. 

9. Roos, Dave. “How the US Captured Manuel Noriega in 1989.” HISTORY, January 6, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/us-invasion-of-panama-noriega. 

10. National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. “Looking Back: The Noriega Case as Legal Precedent | Constitution Center,” 2026. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/looking-back-the-noriega-case-as-legal-precedent#:~:text=The%20court%20also%20rejected%20a,was%20procured%20by%20unlawful%20means.. 

11. Marin, Adriana. “How US Intervention in Venezuela Mirrors Its Actions in Panama in 1989.” Edited by Jonathan Este and Sam Phelps, January 4, 2026. https://doi.org/10.64628/ab.ygs4vn4h9. 

Bibliography:

‌Bekiempis, Victoria, and Richard Luscombe. “Deposed Maduro Pleads Not Guilty after Capture in Shock US Attack on Venezuela.” The Guardian. The Guardian, January 6, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/05/maduro-pleads-not-guilty.

Bertrand, Natasha, and Zachary Cohen. “Classified Legal Memo Argues Trump Wasn’t Constrained by US or International Law for Maduro Capture Operation.” CNN, January 13, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/politics/memo-maduro-capture-olc. 

Global Conflict Tracker. “U.S. Confrontation with Venezuela | Global Conflict Tracker,” 2026. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/instability-venezuela. 

Marin, Adriana. “How US Intervention in Venezuela Mirrors Its Actions in Panama in 1989.” Edited by Jonathan Este and Sam Phelps, January 4, 2026. https://doi.org/10.64628/ab.ygs4vn4h9. 

Milisavljevic, Bojan. “The Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction.” Nauka, Bezbednost, Policija 20, no. 1 (2015): 17–30. https://doi.org/10.5937/nbp1501017m. 

National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. “Looking Back: The Noriega Case as Legal Precedent | Constitution Center,” 2026. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/looking-back-the-noriega-case-as-legal-precedent#:~:text=The%20court%20also%20rejected%20a,was%20procured%20by%20unlawful%20means. 

OHCHR. “UN Experts Condemn US Aggression against Venezuela,” 2026. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/01/un-experts-condemn-us-aggression-against-venezuela. 

Roos, Dave. “How the US Captured Manuel Noriega in 1989.” HISTORY, January 6, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/us-invasion-of-panama-noriega. 

Un.org. “Chapter VII: Article 51 — Charter of the United Nations — Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs — Codification Division Publications,” 2016. https://legal.un.org/repertory/art51.shtml. 

United Nations. “Article 2(4) Contents,” June 26, 1945. https://legal.un.org/repertory/art2/english/rep_supp7_vol1_art2_4.pdf. 

Weller, Marc. “The US Capture of Venezuela’s Maduro: An International Legal Analysis,” University of Cambridge, January 8, 2026. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-us-capture-of-venezuelas-maduro-an-international-legal-analysis?.