Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, January 4, 2026 Real World News
It was socialist Hugo Chavez who turned off the lights in his country in 1999, nationalized the oil industry and led the “pink tide” throughout Latin America. When he died in 2013, there was no relief as his handpicked successor took over until early in the morning of Jan. 2.
Later that day and throughout the weekend, Venezuelans worldwide celebrated President Donald Trump’s operation that resulted in the capture of socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro.
As Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were perp walked from a a Brooklyn lockup to face federal narco-terrorism charges, hundreds of people, many of them victims of Maduro’s brutal regime, chanted “down with the dictator,” “shame on you,” and “dirty scumbag!” the New York Post reported.
Venezuelan national Ronny Chirinos told The Post: “It’s such a joy to see the dictator fall, but the regime hasn’t fallen yet. I want everything to fall. That there is no one left.”
“I will never forget this day,” said 27-year-old Venezuelan Jesus Rodriguez. “I came to see Maduro get punished for all the bad things he’s done for my country. I feel grateful for what Donald Trump did today for our country. I want to go back to be with my family. Now there is hope.”
Related: For the record: Timeline of Venezuela’s descent from prosperity to socialist hell, May 6, 2019
Chants celebrating Maduro’s capture were heard in the streets of Santiago, Chile’s capital, where Venezuelans gathered to share their joy.
“We are free. We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we have a free country,” said Khaty Yanez, a Venezuelan woman who has spent the last seven years in Chile.
“My joy is too big,” her compatriot Jose Gregorio said. “After so many years, after so many struggles, after so much work, today is the day. Today is the day of freedom.”
Since 2014, some 7.7 million Venezuelans, 20% of the population, have left the country unable to afford food or seeking better opportunities abroad, according to the UN International Organization for Migration.
Neighboring Colombia has received the largest share of the diaspora, around 2.8 million, followed by 1.7 million in Peru, according to the R4V platform, a group of regional NGOs assisting migrants and refugees from Venezuela set up by the UN migration agency.
🚨 JUST IN: Venezuelans are literally crying TEARS OF JOY all because President Trump captured Maduro
“We want to thank GOD for His miracle!”
“THANK YOU, UNITED STATES!”
“Long live Venezuela!”
“Venezuela is great, and it will be resurrected among the ashes!” 🇺🇸🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/2G2xTzQH7w
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 3, 2026
Failed Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris responded with condemnation of Trump’s operation while seemingly forgetting that the regime she was part of until Jan. 20, 2024 had issued a $25 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro.
Harris wrote in a post to X:
“Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable. That Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator does not change the fact that this action was both unlawful and unwise. We’ve seen this movie before. Wars for regime change or oil that are sold as strength but turn into chaos, and American families pay the price. The American people do not want this, and they are tired of being lied to.”
RedState’s Rusty Weiss noted: “Kamala’s rush to condemn President Trump’s decisive, zero-casualty capture of Nicolás Maduro exposes her stunning hypocrisy. But it also serves as a handy reminder that America has strong leadership delivering real-world results. Harris would have been the antithesis of that. In the end, Kamala’s partisan meltdown only underscores why voters rejected her—and why Trump’s America-first strength is delivering wins she never could.”
While actual Venezuelans felt hopeful for the first time in many years, leftists who insist they know what is better for Venezuelans than actual Venezuelans were mourning the downfall of the narco-terrorist.
UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn stated: “The U.S. has launched an unprovoked and illegal attack on Venezuela. This is a brazen attempt to secure control over Venezuelan natural resources.It is an act of war that puts the lives of millions of people at risk — and should be condemned by anyone who believes in sovereignty and international law.”
Corbyn’s far-left Your Party co-leader Zarah Sultana added: “Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves — and that’s no coincidence. This is naked U.S. imperialism: an illegal assault on Caracas aimed at overthrowing a sovereign government and plundering its resources. Starmer’s Labour government must condemn this unequivocally. Solidarity with the Venezuelan people.”
Ines Schwerdtner, the co-leader of the German Die Linke (The Left) party, which is the direct descendant of the communist ruling party of the now-defunct East Germany during the Cold War with the Soviet Union, accused the Trump administration of “state terrorism”.
“Hands off Venezuela! Whoever violates international law and allows presidents to be kidnapped is engaging in brutal state terrorism. In the case of wars of aggression that violate international law, there must be no double standards. The federal government should immediately condemn the US attack,” Schwerdtner wrote on X.
In Spain, the leader of the far-left Podemos party, Ione Bellarra, demanded that Madrid cut off relations with the United States, which she accused of being a “danger to the world” and demonstrating “imperialist and terrorist aggression.”
Of course, anything Trump does will be immediately dumped on by Hollywood elites, many of who called for the president’s impeachment.
Two and a Half Men star John Cryer took to leftist social media platform Bluesky to write: “Impeachment now”. Cryer was responding to Colorado Democrat Rep. Joe Neguse, who called Trump’s actions “unconstitutional.”
“Impeach this evil guy,” actress Mia Farrow said in a Bluesky rant of her own. “Trump & his billionaire oil company pals want Venezuela’s oil. Hoping our branches of government finally go spine shopping and do what is right-for America, our allies and the world’s people.”
Disney’s Marvel movie star Mark Ruffalo compared Trump to Adolf Hitler, while he, Farrow, horror author Stephen King, and Elsbeth star Wendell Pierce all spread the conspiracy theory that Trump arrested and charged Maduro for “oil.”
2026 Contract With Our Readers
World reacts: Ecstatic Venezuelans celebrate, Left mourns narco-terrorist’s exit added by Editor Two on
View all posts by Editor Two →