In the early morning hours of January 3, 2026, the United States military, specifically the Delta Force unit, carried out the historic capture of Nicolas Maduro, the ex-president of Venezuela. Maduro was elected president of Venezuela in 2013, following the death of Hugo Chavez, and was illegitimately re-elected in 2024. Maduro resided in the MiraFlores Palace in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, up until the raid. Maduro is often referred to as a dictator who is known for his abuse of human rights, corruption, election fraud, and, especially pertaining to the United States, drug trafficking. Tension between the United States and Venezuela has been high for years now, but recently skyrocketed further when the United States began taking down boats full of drugs in the Caribbean, and an improved alliance between Venezuela and Russia, China and Iran, enemies of the United States. Formal action was finally taken when the Delta Force Unit, along with a multitude of aircraft and militia, attacked military bases in Caracas, killing many security officers of Venezuelan and Cuban descent, and taking Maudro and his wife, Cillia, in United States custody.
The Delta Force Unit is widely recognized as one of the most elite special mission units in the United States Military. This unit is typically used to fight terrorism, capable of killing well-known leaders, conducting sabotage and raids, the final being demonstrated days ago. The unit includes roughly 2,000 soldiers who are divided into squadrons and from there, troops.
The Delta Force Unit has been involved in many high-impact missions, a notable one being tasks carried out against high-level terrorist figures and leaders in the Middle East after 9/11. Delta Force troops consistently practiced the raid months in advance at a military base in Kentucky by constructing a size-accurate replica of where they would capture Maduro. The mock compound was extremely detailed, even down to the building materials that were used to protect Maduro. The unit was even prepared to blowtorch their way into Maduro’s safe room, if necessary. This practice tactic was proved tried and true after being used to prepare for the raid and killing of Osama Bin Laden, leader of the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attack, Al-Queda.
Veteran and head of math department, Alan Shorey, brings inside information and a new perspective being a veteran of the United States Military.
“The Delta Force is the Army’s most elite force,” said Shorey. “It is very selective. Typically soldiers in Delta Force come from another elite unit like the Ranger Regiment or Special Forces Command. So they get experienced soldiers that are the best of the best that America has to offer. Their mission is to do exactly this sort of work. Direct action and hostage rescue are a couple of things they routinely train for so this mission is in line with that work.”
The Delta Force Unit’s success was also dependent on other crucial members of the raiding team, the 160th SOAR, also known as the Night Stalkers, the Air Force, Navy and Marines, a testament to how large-scale this operation was.
“Although the Delta Force was the unit that apprehended Maduro and his wife, there were many other forces involved. Special Operations pilots transported the Delta Force in helicopters. The Air Force and Navy provided aircraft in support with special capabilities to make it possible to get the Delta Force to their objective safely. The Navy and Marines likely had ships and Marines in the area ready to support,” said Shorey.
The mission to capture Maduro was the epitome of high-risk, high-reward, with numerous factors going into the danger aspect of the voyage and multiple precautions and steps taken to limit catastrophe. Shorey continues to break the situation down.
“Since there are so many moving pieces, there are many things that could go wrong. The most catastrophic thing would have been for the helicopters to be detected and shot down with the soldiers on board prior to getting to the objective. To avoid this sort of thing from happening, the military planners plan these options very meticulously. They have likely been rehearsing this operation for months. In the Army, every time you rehearse an operation, you uncover things that could go wrong and then you attempt to fix them prior to the mission. I’m sure that this plan was refined many, many times,” said Shorey. “This was a very difficult mission because of the conditions. It was in an urban and mountainous area with very unpredictable weather and it was conducted at night time. There were about 150 aircraft involved in this operation so it was very complex. The level of complexity is what made it difficult.”
Shorey himself has been a part of a similar mission, and can relate to the soldiers and understand the level of difficulty and the pressure to execute.
“I helped plan and execute an air assault raid in Iraq during one of my tours there in order to try to recover a soldier who had been captured,” said Shorey. “We were going into an unfamiliar area at night with a force of about 100 soldiers. I remember how hard we worked to pull this operation off and it makes me so impressed with the capability of our military today. What they did to capture Maduro was truly impressive and should give all of us great confidence in our military forces.”
Senior student Rafael Yanes Gorbea and Spanish teacher Andrea Shiera are Venezuelan natives who are either studying in the U.S or immigrants. Yanes Gorbea was home for winter break in his home country of Venezuela, where he has lived for 17 years, when the U.S conducted the raid.
“I found out while I was at the airport, I heard bombs and helicopters moving around, and after that, I saw in the news that Maduro had been captured,” Yanes Gorbea said.
Like many Venezuelans, the immediate effect of the raid had many confused, but soon once the chaos was cleared, many had a positive, vibrant reaction to the news.
“First of all, I was in shock and scared of what just happened, after that I was so happy when I saw the news that they captured Maduro,” Yanes Gorbea said.
Shiera lived in Venezuela for 26 years before moving to the United States a few years ago. Many members of her family, including her grandmother, and many of her friends still live in Venezuela.
“I was on my break for holidays, for New Year, and I was in Biloxi, Mississippi, and my friends started calling me by FaceTime,” said Shiera. “I was like, something happened. I was so worried about it. And when I answered the FaceTime call, I figured it out that they all were crying and celebrating. And that’s how I figured it out. My first reaction was like very happy and I actually started crying a lot. To me, it means a full-circle moment. To see in the jail someone that hurt my family that much, it was a full circle.”