US military seizes Venezuela President Maduro in Caracas operation

In an extraordinary military operation early Saturday, the United States launched a large-scale military operation in Caracas, Venezuela, and special forces captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Maduro has a 2020 indictment pending in the Southern District of New York, where he is expected to be brought for trial.

The operation took place shortly after the 37th anniversary of the capture of Manuel Antonio Noriega on December 20, 1989. Noriega was convicted of drug and money laundering charges and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He was tried in Miami.

Maduro was charged in a four-count indictment replacing Diosdado Cabello Rondón, 56, president of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly; Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, aka “El Pollo,” 59, former director of military intelligence; Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, 58, former General in the Venezuelan armed forces; Luciano Marín Arango aka “Ivan Marquez,” 64, a member of the FARC Secretariat, the FARC’s highest leadership body; and Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte aka “Jesús Santrich,” 53, a member of the FARC Central High Command, the FARC’s second-highest leadership body.

This operation would be justified as enforcing the criminal warrant and responding to the international drug cartel, a legal framework very similar to the one used against Noriega. There are precedents supporting this previous operation, which will now be used to defend actions in Venezuela.

MADURO SAID VENEZUELA IS ‘READY’ TO DEAL WITH US ON DRUGS AND OIL AFTER MILITARY ATTACKS

Here is part of the Justice Department’s previous statement regarding the accused conduct:

“Maduro helped lead and ultimately manage the Sun Cartel, a Venezuelan drug trafficking organization composed of high-level Venezuelan officials. As he gained power in Venezuela, Maduro joined a corrupt and violent terrorist organization. narco-terrorism conspiracy With the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Maduro negotiated shipments of tons of FARC-produced cocaine; instructed the Sun Cartel to provide military-grade weapons to the FARC; coordinating with drug traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking; and sought assistance from the FARC leadership in training an unsanctioned militia group that essentially functioned as an armed forces unit for the Sun Cartel. In March 2020, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York with narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.”

Demonstrators clash with police while protesting the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on February 22, 2014. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Democratic members immediately declared the operation illegal. They may want to review past cases, particularly the verdict in the case filed after Noriega was captured by President George H. W. Bush’s administration.

HIZBOLLA OPERATORS ARE SETTLEMENTING IN MADURO’S ‘ISLAND OF TERROR’ WHILE TOURISTS ARE ESCAPING

“Without authorization from Congress and while the vast majority of Americans oppose military action, Trump launched an unjust, illegal attack on Venezuela. He says we don’t have enough money for health care for Americans — but somehow we have unlimited funds for war?” wrote Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

Trump does not need Congressional approval for this type of operation. Presidents, including Democratic presidents, have regularly launched deadly attacks against individuals. President Barack Obama killed an American citizen as part of this “kill list” policy. If Obama can vaporize an American citizen without criminal charges, Trump can capture a foreign citizen with a pending criminal complaint, without prior congressional approval.

Normally, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and other international agreements require the United States to report to its embassy a foreign national who has been arrested and detained in the United States. In this case the notification seems a bit unnecessary.

TRUMP STATES MADURO’S OPENING AS A ‘SMART’ MOVE BECAUSE RUSSIA AND CHINA ENTERED THE STRUGGLE

In his appeal, Noriega argued that his detention violated international law under the doctrine of head of state immunity. The district court denied Noriega’s request for presidential immunity because the U.S. government never recognized Noriega as the legitimate ruler of Panama; This claim will be made in the Maduro case.

United States for the Eleventh Circuit He also rejected the request for immunity.

Noriega also argued that his capture violated the Extradition Treaty, May 25, 1904, United States v. Republic of Panama, 34 Stat. 2851 (“U.S.-Panama Extradition Treaty”). However, the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Alvarez-Machain, 504 US 655 (1992) appeared to preclude this argument. The issue was whether he had been smuggled into the United States under a superseding extradition treaty. The Eleventh Circuit held:

TRUMP DECLARED THE ‘VENEZUELAN REGIME’ AS A FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION AND ORDERED THE BLOCKAGE OF OIL TANKERS

Article of the US-Panama Extradition Treaty that Noriega relies on extradition treaty claim It contains nearly identical language to the provision of the U.S.-Mexico Extradition Treaty at issue in Alvarez-Machain. See US-Panama Extradition Treaty, art. 5 (“No party to the contract shall be obliged to surrender its own citizens or subjects”).

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Under Alvarez-Machain, to justify an extradition treaty claim, a defendant must show, by reference to the express language of a treaty and/or established practice under that treaty, that the United States has affirmatively agreed not to detain foreign nationals from the treaty partner’s territory. Because Noriega did not bear this burden, his claim failed.

The Noriega case provides broad support for the Trump administration, which has an outstanding arrest warrant for more than five years. He is not considered the duly elected leader of Venezuela and is linked to a criminal drug cartel.

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The action will also have a major impact on foreign policy. The Monroe Doctrine has now become the Trump Doctrine. This action targeted not only Venezuela but also Cuba, which provides Maduro’s security. Possibly Cuban security may have been involved in the conflict. In cutting off vital oil to Cuba, the Trump Administration also dealt a blow to the Cuban regime; this was probably one of the most painful defeats since the crushing of Cuban forces in Grenada in 1983.

Legally, Trump has the upper hand in this situation. Maduro will echo Noriega’s arguments, but make a weaker case on the merits under controlling precedent.

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