Feb. 7, 2026
By Isabella Estrella
Staff Writer
In a military operation called Operation Absolute Resolve, the United States bombed the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on the night of Jan. 2.
Almost simultaneously, members of America’s elite Delta Force captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were flown out of the country to a detention center in New York City. On Jan. 3, President Donald Trump said in a news conference ahead of Maduro’s arrival in New York that a U.S. group would “run” Venezuela.
Since the United States ousted Maduro, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, now the interim president, has been working to meet the Trump administration’s demands, including opening the country’s oil sector to foreign investment. Earning praise from Trump, he referred to Rodríguez as a “terrific person” when talking to reporters in the Oval Office on Jan. 15.
“To overtake a country because you could is just not a good thing… and not a good look for the U.S.”
Critics say the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela were illegal, as Congress did not request or approve the bombing of Venezuela and the capture of Maduro and his wife. However, supporters believe Maduro should not be allowed to continue leading Venezuela, as the U.S. Department of Justice accused and pressed criminal charges against him for drug trafficking and narcoterrorism on March 26, 2020.
Furthermore, supporters recognize that the United States stands to financially benefit from Venezuela’s oil, which it has subsequently seized.
History teacher Mr. Tessalone said the United States’ interest in Latin America is nothing new.
“We’ve always had stakes in Latin America. We’ve gotten militarily involved in various Latin American countries throughout our history,” Tessalone said.
He said this practice dates back to 1823 with former President James Monroe’s Monroe Doctrine, which stated that European powers were obligated to respect the Western Hemisphere as the United States’ sphere of interest. Similarly, under the Roosevelt Corollary, announced by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904, the United States could intervene in a Latin American country’s internal affairs in cases of flagrant and chronic wrongdoing.
Tessalone said the United States had a military presence on Latin American soil through the 1800s, the 1930s and from the 1950s-’90s during the Cold War.
“Some people have called this a Trump Doctrine, because there have been multiple doctrines throughout American history, [including] the Truman Doctrine, the Bush Doctrine and the Reagan Doctrine,” Tessalone said. “The Trump Doctrine might be [that] the United States is going to take a more aggressive leadership role in Latin America.”
History teacher Ms. Schiraldi said, regardless of the reason, the United States should not have abducted Maduro or asserted control over Venezuela.
“To overtake a country because you could is just not a good thing… and not a good look for the U.S.,” Schiraldi said. “Even in World War II, we didn’t take over countries. We freed countries. That’s what we’re supposed to be all about.”
Schiraldi said taking over another country under the guise of combating drug trafficking resembles the actions taken in dictatorships such as those in North Korea or Russia.
“I’m all for the drug trafficking being shut down, but I don’t think it was the right way to do it,” Schiraldi said.
Like Schiraldi, sophomore Jack Quick said he opposes the United States’ actions in Venezuela.
“I am concerned that this conflict could lead the [American] government to focus less on the people here… as they will be trying to improve a foreign country,” Quick said.
He said that although the United States has had military involvement in Latin America, it has never abducted a president with the intent to take natural resources.
“It is okay for the U.S. to influence the leadership in other countries if it is… enforcing international law or helping to establish a democratic, unbiased government. However, the U.S. rarely does this when it intervenes in foreign countries,” Quick said. “I do not think the U.S. should intervene abroad if it intends to take resources or establish a puppet government.”
Junior Christina Mizeski said the United States helped Venezuelans by seizing Maduro.
“He was a dictator, and he wasn’t a good person. I think Venezuela is better off without him…. Venezuelans have been extremely happy about [his] abduction,” Mizeski said.
Even though she is glad Maduro is no longer in power, Mizeski said she worries that the United States is interfering too much in another country’s affairs.
“We should just bring righteousness and democracy to them and let them govern themselves and make their own decisions,” Mizeski said. “My biggest concern is our over-involvement in the country. Then, it seems like we’re trying to be the new dictators. I don’t want that to happen.”
