From Iraq’s Saddam To Panama’s Noriega: Why Venezuelan President Maduro’s Capture By US Has The World Stunned | World News

New Delhi: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been detained by the US, joining the ranks of former leaders such as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Panama’s Manuel Noriega in a history of high-profile US interventions. President Donald Trump announced that his administration carried out the operation amid “large-scale” attacks on Venezuelan territory and that governments around the world were closely following the developments.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez told state television that the government had no information about the whereabouts of Maduro or his wife, Cilia Flores. In the voicemail released on Saturday, January 3, he underlined the uncertainty in Caracas and demanded proof that both were still alive.

The operation follows US military strikes in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean targeting ships that Washington alleges are involved in drug trafficking. The attacks also included an attack on the docking area used by Venezuelan boats; this marked an increase in US operations against Caracas.

Maduro’s capture is reminiscent of previous instances where the United States has removed foreign leaders from power. In 1989, Washington invaded Panama to depose military and de facto leader Manuel Noriega. The US cited the protection of US citizens in Panama, corruption concerns, undemocratic practices and the illegal drug trade as reasons for the invasion.

Before the attack, Noriega was accused of drug trafficking in Miami in 1988, just as Maduro was facing legal pressure from the United States.

Noriega forced Panamanian President Nicolás Ardito Barletta to resign in 1985, annulled the 1989 elections and fueled anti-US sentiment in the country. At the time, the US operation was the largest combat mission since the Vietnam War.

He was eventually flown to the United States, tried in Miami, and imprisoned until 2010. He was later extradited to France for another trial, returned to Panama in 2011, and imprisoned until his death in 2017.

The Saddam Hussein case similarly demonstrates the United States’ record of capturing foreign leaders. He was captured by US forces on December 13, 2003, nine months after the Washington-led invasion of Iraq based on intelligence (later proven false) that Baghdad allegedly possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Like Noriega, Saddam had previously been an ally of the United States, particularly during the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s, which killed nearly a million people. The US also accused him, without any evidence, of supporting armed groups such as Al Qaeda. He was found hiding in a pit near his hometown of Tikrit, was tried in an Iraqi court, and was hanged on December 30, 2006 for his crimes against humanity.

More recently, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández has demonstrated a different but related pattern of US intervention. He was captured at his home in Tegucigalpa in February 2022 by US agents working with Honduran forces, just days after leaving office.

He was extradited to the United States in April 2022 for his alleged involvement in corruption and illegal drug dealing and was sentenced to 45 years in prison in June. However, in a surprising development, Trump pardoned him on December 1, 2025.

Days later, Honduras’ attorney general issued an international arrest warrant for Hernández, creating new legal and political turmoil shortly after his release from a U.S. prison.

Maduro’s capture adds Venezuela to the list of countries where the United States has directly removed or recently removed incumbent leaders; This demonstrates a pattern of sustained intervention combining military, legal and diplomatic pressure. With Maduro in US custody, global attention has turned to the potential political ramifications for Venezuela and broader implications for regional stability.