At the onset of his second presidency, President Trump revived a 'maximum pressure' strategy towards Venezuela.352 He accused the Venezuelan government of large‑scale cocaine trafficking, charged Maduro with leading the Cartel of the Suns (Cartel de los Soles), designated that group and Tren de Aragua as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), issued a secret directive in August 2025 authorising Pentagon action against select Latin American cartels, doubled the US bounty on Maduro to 50 million USD, and deployed a naval task force toward Venezuelan waters.353 For information on these groups, see section 2.1 Armed groups.
In August 2025, the US began building up a large naval presence in the Caribbean, stating that its objective was to combat drug‑trafficking networks allegedly linked to Venezuela and President Maduro,354 including Tren de Aragua and the Cartel of the Suns.355 By the end of March 2026, US forces had carried out 43 strikes in both the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific against boats allegedly transporting narcotics, resulting in 160 deaths.356
On 3 January 2026, the US carried out a military operation in Caracas aimed at capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.357 Following the operation, US President Trump stated that his administration would govern Venezuela until a '"safe, proper and judicious transition"' could occur and that the US would assume control over the sale of Venezuelan oil.358 The number of fatalities remains unclear, though sources indicated that at least 47 members of Venezuelan security forces and 32 Cuban military personnel were killed.359 On 7 January 2026, US Secretary of State announced that a three-phase plan for Venezuela, focused on stabilisation, recovery, and transition, would be implemented, accompanied by significant sanctions relief and a restructuring of trade relations.360
Both Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores were transported to New York, where they were indicted on four charges originally filed in 2020: 'Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy', 'Cocaine Importation Conspiracy', 'Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices', and 'Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices'.361 As of 4 June 2026, no trial date had been set.362
On 5 March 2026, Vice‑President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in by the National Assembly as 'interim President', replacing Nicolás Maduro.363 Although the structure of Maduro's authoritarian government remained in place,364 sources indicated that since Maduro’s capture, interim President Rodríguez has distanced herself from his style of governance and has cooperated closely with the US.365 On the same day, 5 March 2026, the US and Venezuela re-established diplomatic relations after seven years.366 On 8 March 2026, President Trump recognised Delcy Rodríguez as 'President'.367
Sources indicated that since becoming interim President, Delcy Rodríguez has undertaken a series of changes within the executive branch, the military, and the economic apparatus.368 On 19 March 2026, Rodríguez removed Defence Minister Vladimir López Padrino and appointed General Gustavo González López as his replacement.369 The following day, 20 March 2026, Rodríguez replaced several senior military commanders.370 General González López, who remains on the US sanctions list, previously served as director of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN, Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional), an agency implicated in state repression.371 For additional information on SEBIN, see section 1.6 State security forces. Interim President Rodríguez also replaced the ministers of Electric Energy, Housing, Transportation, Employment, Culture, and University Education, and introduced changes within the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM, Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar) and the Presidential Guard.372 On 29 April 2026, Cabello rejected calls for new presidential and parliamentary elections, stating that they would be held 'when the time is right'.373
The AtlasIntel and Bloomberg survey found that 52.2 % of respondents believed civil liberties had expanded in the country following the US intervention, while 30.4 % felt they had diminished.374 Regarding democratic conditions, 38.9 % of respondents said Venezuela was becoming 'a little more democratic' and 19.1 % 'much more democratic', compared with 22 % who stated that the country was 'not democratic at all'.375 Sources noted that, after the detention of Maduro, there is greater freedom in civic space and, to some extent, voice dissent.376 Amaya noted that political parties and civil society organisations have retaken public activities, resuming field work, and publishing reports, and that participation in protests has also increased, but emphasised that the risk has not disappeared, as the repressive apparatus remains intact.377 For additional information, see section 3.1. Political opponents and activists, and human rights defenders.
- 352
CFR, U.S. Confrontation With Venezuela, 18 February 2026, url; CNN, Qué ha cambiado en la política de Trump hacia Venezuela desde su primer mandato (y cómo eso explica las actuales tensiones en el Caribe), 14 October 2025, url
- 353
CFR, U.S. Confrontation With Venezuela, 18 February 2026, url; Time, What’s Happening With the U.S. and Venezuela, Explained, 8 January 2026, url
- 354
Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2026, Venezuela, March 2026, url; New York Times (The), Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela, 15 October 2025, url
- 355
IISS, After the fall: what Maduro’s capture means for criminal geopolitics, 7 January 2026, url; CBS, U.S. to designate Venezuela's Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization as USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrives in Caribbean, 17 November 2025, url
- 356
International Crisis Group, The Venezuela Paradigm: Is Trump’s Model Intervention a Mirage?, 27 March 2026, url
- 357
BBC, Who is running Venezuela after US forces seized Maduro?, 26 March 2026, url; PBS, ‘I Think We’re Under Attack’: Inside Caracas the Night the U.S. Captured Nicolás Maduro, 10 February 2026, url
- 358
BBC, Who is running Venezuela after US forces seized Maduro?, 26 March 2026, url; Guardian (The), Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela after Nicolás Maduro captured and taken to New York, 4 January 2026, url
- 359
Anadolu Agency, Venezuela confirms 47 troops killed in US operation to capture Maduro, 17 February 2026, url; SWI swissinfo.ch, El ministro de Defensa venezolano informa que 47 militares murieron en el ataque de EE.UU., 16 January 2026, url
- 360
WOLA, Two months without Maduro in Venezuela: Democratic transition or authoritarian adaptation?, 11 March 2026, url; Reuters, Rubio says US plan for Venezuela is stability, recovery, then transition, 7 January 2026, url
- 361
US, United States of America v. Nicolás Maduro Moros, Diosdado Cabello Rondón, Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, a/k/a "El Pollo", Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, Luciano Marín Arango, a/k/a "Ivan Marquez", and Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte, a/ka/ "Jesús Santrich", 5 March 2020, url
- 362
Reuters, Venezuela's Maduro adds Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer to defense team, 4 June 2026, url
- 363
CNN, Delcy Rodríguez asume formalmente como presidenta encargada y rechaza "agresión militar ilegítima" contra Venezuela, 5 January 2026, url; El País, Delcy Rodríguez se instala en el poder en una Venezuela sin Maduro y a la sombra de Trump, 5 January 2026, url
- 364
WOLA, Two months without Maduro in Venezuela: Democratic transition or authoritarian adaptation?, 11 March 2026, url; NTN24, "Aunque Nicolás Maduro no está, la estructura del autoritarismo continúa intacta": Rafael Uzcátegui advierte 'autoimpunidad' del régimen de Venezuela con la Ley de Amnistía, 20 February 2026, url
- 365
BBC, Venezuelan leader replaces senior military commanders, 20 March 2026, url; El País, Venezuela forgets about Maduro and starts down an irreversible path, 23 March 2026, url
- 366
WOLA, Two months without Maduro in Venezuela: Democratic transition or authoritarian adaptation?, 11 March 2026, url; International Crisis Group, The Venezuela Paradigm: Is Trump’s Model Intervention a Mirage?, 27 March 2026, url
- 367
WOLA, Two months without Maduro in Venezuela: Democratic transition or authoritarian adaptation?, 11 March 2026, url; International Crisis Group, The Venezuela Paradigm: Is Trump’s Model Intervention a Mirage?, 27 March 2026, url
- 368
DW, Delcy Rodríguez destituye a embajador de Maduro ante la ONU, 25 March 2026, url; Agencia EFE, Rodríguez nombra un nuevo ministro de Comercio Exterior y a embajadora ante la ONU, 25 March 2025, url
- 369
FDD, Interim Venezuelan president ousts defense chief as Washington makes limited progress in Caracas, 26 March 2026, url; CNN, Del SEBIN y la Guardia de Delcy Rodríguez al Ministerio de Defensa de Venezuela: quién es Gustavo González López, 19 March 2026, url
- 370
FDD, Interim Venezuelan president ousts defense chief as Washington makes limited progress in Caracas, 26 March 2026, url; CNN, Del SEBIN y la Guardia de Delcy Rodríguez al Ministerio de Defensa de Venezuela: quién es Gustavo González López, 19 March 2026, url
- 371
BBC, Venezuelan leader replaces senior military commanders, 20 March 2026, url; CNN, Del SEBIN y la Guardia de Delcy Rodríguez al Ministerio de Defensa de Venezuela: quién es Gustavo González López, 19 March 2026, url
- 372
El Pitazo, Estos son los seis cambios ministeriales que hizo Delcy Rodríguez el 18 de marzo, 19 March 2026, url; Agencia EFE, Designados nuevos jefes de la Guardia de Honor Presidencial y la DGCIM, 18 March 2026, url
- 373
Efecto Cocuyo, Cabello insiste a la oposición: ¿Para qué quieren elecciones mañana? ¿Para que no reconozcan el resultado?, 29 April 2026, url; Semana, Diosdado Cabello vuelve a rechazar posibles elecciones en Venezuela: “¿Para qué? ¿Para que no reconozcan el resultado?”, 29 April 2026, url
- 374
AtlasIntel and Bloomberg, Latam Pulse Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 32
- 375
AtlasIntel and Bloomberg, Latam Pulse Venezuela, March 2026, url, p. 32
- 376
Amaya, telephone interview, 12 May 2026; Briceño-León, telephone interview, 13 May 2026
- 377
Amaya, telephone interview, 12 May 2026