Global reactions after U.S. captures Maduro in Venezuela strikes

European leaders urged restraint and respect for international law Saturday in their first reactions.

EU High Representative Kaja Kallas said on X she spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the EU ambassador in Caracas. Acknowledging Maduro “lacks legitimacy,” she called for a peaceful transition while prioritizing the safety of EU citizens.

French President Emmanuel Macron offered a brighter note, saying Venezuelans “could only rejoice” at the prospect of democracy.

“The Venezuelan people are today rid of the dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro,” Macron wrote on X.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took a harder line, affirming Spain never recognized Maduro but will not recognize “an intervention that violates of international law.”

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer distanced London, insisting “Britain was not involved” while posting on X that the UK “regarded Maduro as an illegitimate president and we shed no tears about the end of his regime.”

In Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged Venezuela’s involvement in drug trafficking and confirmed Germany had not recognized the Maduro regime as legitimate. He called for elections and a transition to democratic order.

Catholic leaders in Congress reacted with both approval and criticism of the White House’s strikes in Venezuela and capture of President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, described the Maduro regime as “narco-terrorists.”

“They’ve flooded our country with deadly drugs, killing innocent Americans and destroying families. Maduro, who is an illegitimate dictator, and his wife were rightfully indicted in U.S. courts for their heinous crimes,” the Republican said.

“Today, President Trump continued to take decisive action to put America first and protect the American people by pursuing an arrest warrant for Maduro and his wife,” he said.

Idaho GOP Sen. Jim Risch, meanwhile, said Maduro was “a grave threat to America.”

“He facilitated the flow of deadly drugs into our country, allowed U.S. adversaries to establish a foothold alarmingly close to our shores, and destabilized a region too close to home for comfort,” the senator said in a statement, describing the White House’s strikes as “meaningful action to protect our national security and eliminate a serious threat to the American people.”

Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, in contrast, said in a statement that the military action represented “a sickening return to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all nations in the Western Hemisphere.”

“Where will this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fragile ceasefire in Gaza? To battle terrorists in Nigeria? To seize Greenland or the Panama Canal?” Kaine asked, calling on Congress to “reassert its critical constitutional role in matters of war, peace, diplomacy and trade.”

And Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Massachusetts, said in a statement that though Maduro is a “brutal dictator,” it is “entirely possible to hate Maduro and also to strongly condemn the decision to remove him by force.”

“President Trump did not seek congressional authorization for this use of force, and Congress did not grant it. Under our Constitution and the law, that makes this action illegal,” McGovern said.

Petare Bishop Juan Carlos Bravo Salazar on Jan. 3 urged his fellow Venezuelans to remain calm and prayerful amid U.S. strikes in the region and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.

The bishop made the plea via a statement posted to Instagram. “It is necessary, though difficult, to maintain calm, peace, and above all an atmosphere of prayer,” he said.

“It is important to stay sheltered and not go out,” he continued. “For the good of our people, do not call people into the streets, nor spread information that has not been verified and confirmed, nor from sources that are not trustworthy or official.”

“May the Holy Spirit grant us the graces we need to make a faith-filled reading of this historic moment and of our reality as disciples and shepherds of the faithful people,” he added.

Petare is located on the outskirts of Caracas, the nation’s capital, where the U.S. strikes were levied and where Maduro was captured.

President Donald Trump on Jan. 3 said the people of Venezuela are “free” in the wake of the U.S. capture of President Nicolás Maduro.

“The dictator and terrorist Maduro is finally gone, and Venezuelan people are free. They’re free again!” the U.S. president said at a press conference.

“It’s been a long time for them, but they’re free,” he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 3 said the United States would “run” Venezuela until a replacement for President Nicolás Maduro can be found, with the U.S. leader vowing a “safe, proper, and judicious transition” after American forces arrested Maduro and brought him to New York State for indictment.

“We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and [then] we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years,” Trump said, emphasizing: “We are going to run the country.”

Argentinian President Javier Milei on Jan. 3 celebrated the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, describing the arrest as “a decisive advance” against regional narco-terrorism.

“The socialist regime that Nicolás Maduro led is currently the biggest enemy of freedom on the continent, fulfilling today a role similar to [Cuba which] has been exporting communism and terrorism to the entire region in recent years,” Milei’s office said in a statement.

Maduro’s detention “allows the Venezuelan people to fully recover democracy, the rule of the law and the respect of human rights,” the statement said.

Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado stated in a press release that, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, “the hour of freedom has arrived” for Venezuelans.

“As of today, Nicolás Maduro faces international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations. Given his refusal to accept a negotiated solution, the United States government has fulfilled its promise to uphold the law,” she said.

Machado stated that “the time has come for Popular Sovereignty and National Sovereignty to prevail in our country. We will restore order, release political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home.”

“We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening,” she said.

The opposition leader then encouraged Venezuelans in the country to be ready “to put into action what we will very soon communicate to you through our official channels.”

“To Venezuelans abroad, we need you mobilized, engaging governments and citizens around the world and committing them now to the great operation of building the new Venezuela,” she added.

“We go hand in hand with God, until the very end,” her message concludes.

A U.S. indictment brought against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accuses the politician of running a corrupt government facilitating drug trafficking and conspiracy, among other crimes.

In a Jan. 3 unsealed indictment, the U.S. government alleged that Maduro — who has held power in Venezuela for over a decade — has “tarnished every public office he has held” with corruption and drug-running.

A prayer for Venezuela amid U.S. military intervention in the nation’s capital of Caracas:

In this moment of uncertainty, we join in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Venezuela, and we entrust this beloved nation to its patroness, Our Lady of Coromoto:

Jesus Christ, our Lord, we come before You in this time of great need for our homeland. We feel both anxious and hopeful, and we ask for strength as a precious gift of Your Spirit.

We long to be a people committed to respect for human dignity, to liberty, justice, and the pursuit of the common good. As children of God, grant us the grace to build fraternal coexistence, to love everyone without exclusion, to stand in solidarity with the poor, and to work for reconciliation and peace.

Grant us the wisdom of dialogue and encounter, so that together we may build a civilization of love through genuine participation and fraternal solidarity.

You call us together as one nation, and we say to You: Here we are, Lord, with our Mother, Mary of Coromoto, ready to continue the path we have begun and to bear witness to the faith of a people united in new hope.

And so we all proclaim together: Venezuela! Walks and lives with Jesus Christ, Lord of history! Amen.

The bishops of Venezuela are in prayer and communicating with each other amid U.S. strikes in Caracas and the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuelan Episcopal Conference President Jesús González de Zárate, who also serves as the archbishop of Valencia, told EWTN News that events in the country are “unfolding rapidly” and it is “not easy to assess them fully.”

“We bishops have been monitoring them from the outset. We are praying and in constant communication with each other and with our priests,” the prelate said.

Governments and heads of state in Latin America condemned the United States military action in Venezuela on Jan. 3 that saw major strikes in Caracas and the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the government there observed the military strikes with “deep concern.”

“[T]he Colombian Government rejects any unilateral military action that could aggravate the situation or put the civilian population at risk,” he said. Colombia shares a border with Venezuela.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, meanwhile, said the strikes and Maduro’s arrest “cross an unacceptable line.”

“These acts represent a most serious affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and set another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community,” he said, calling for the international community to “respond vigorously.”

Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font expressed “concern and condemnation” over the military action, calling for “a peaceful solution to the serious crisis affecting the country.”

“The Venezuelan crisis must be resolved through dialogue and the support of multilateralism, and not through violence or foreign interference,” he said.

And in an official statement, the Mexican government said it “condemns and strongly rejects” the U.S. strikes, with the government calling on the U.S. to “cease any act of aggression against the Venezuelan government and people.”

The government “urges the United Nations to act immediately to contribute to the de-escalation of tensions, facilitate dialogue and create conditions that allow a peaceful, sustainable solution in accordance with international law,” the statement said.

The Venezuelan government has decried what it describes as a “very serious military aggression” by the United States after U.S. strikes in Caracas and the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations,” the government statement said, claiming that the military action “threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and puts the lives of millions of people at serious risk.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been indicted in New York State on terrorism and conspiracy charges, according to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi wrote on X on Jan. 3.

Bondi thanked both President Donald Trump and “our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers.”

There will be “no further action” in Venezuela after the U.S. carried out strikes in Caracas and arrested President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, according to Utah Sen. Mike Lee.

Lee said he spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the strikes and Maduro’s arrest.

“He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” Lee said.

“This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack,” the senator wrote.

President Donald Trump announced early Saturday that U.S. forces have “captured” Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, flying them out of the country following a “large scale strike” on the South American nation.

“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” Trump wrote in a post shared by U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.