Tea at Trianon: Why Arresting Maduro Was Legal, Lawful, and Long Overdue

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, January 4, 2026

Why Arresting Maduro Was Legal, Lawful, and Long Overdue

From Amuse on X:

Maduro was not seized as the president of Venezuela. He was seized as an indicted narcotics trafficker. That fact matters, and it is not rhetorical. It is the organizing premise of the case.
In March 2020, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed charges against Nicolás Maduro for narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, weapons offenses, and conspiracy to import massive quantities of drugs into the US. The indictment alleged that Maduro led the Cartel de Los Soles, a transnational criminal organization embedded within Venezuela’s security services and political institutions. The charges were not symbolic. They carried potential life sentences. A $15M reward was publicly offered for information leading to his arrest. From that moment forward, Maduro was not treated by the US as a protected sovereign. He was treated as a fugitive.
Critics often respond that indictments are cheap, and that powerful states can always criminalize their enemies. But this objection ignores a crucial legal fact. The US position was not merely that Maduro committed crimes. It was that he did so without sovereign immunity because he was not a legitimate head of state. That claim did not arise from convenience. It arose from recognition doctrine.
Following Venezuela’s fraudulent 2018 election, the country’s own National Assembly declared the presidency vacant and recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president under Venezuela’s constitution. More than 50 countries followed suit. The US formally withdrew recognition from Maduro’s regime and described it as illegitimate. This matters because head of state immunity is not a metaphysical property. It is a legal consequence of recognition. States decide whom they treat as governments. When recognition is withdrawn, immunity dissolves with it.
This principle is not controversial. Courts have long held that immunity flows from recognition decisions made by the political branches. When the executive branch states that an individual is not a recognized head of state, courts defer. That deference is not lawlessness. It is separation of powers. (Read more.)

From Paul E. Vallely:

Finally, action to cleans the Western Hemisphere. No toleration of Communism and Sharia law and their destructive effect on Nations and free-standing citizens. The U.S. conducted a flawless, well-planned special operations mission in Venezuela early Saturday morning. President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and moved to a US Navy ship for transportation to New York for formal indictment. He will “face the full wrath of American justice on American soil,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.[1]
Asked who will lead Venezuela, Trump told Fox News, “Well, we’re going to have to look at it right now.” Trump also said that he expects the U.S. to get “very strongly involved” in the future of Venezuela’s oil industry. Venezuela’s attorney general said innocent civilians were killed in the military strikes on several facilities in Caracas and the surrounding area.
The U.S. has been ramping up the pressure on Venezuela for months, assembling a huge military presence in the Caribbean, intercepting two fully loaded Venezuelan crude tankers, and killing dozens in strikes on boats near it alleges were carrying drugs. Many Venezuelans rejoice after news Maduro was captured, arrested and moved to the United States. “I’m extremely happy, it’s a sensation that finally people understood that Venezuela was no longer a democratic country,” said Raquel De Faria, a Venezuelan-Brazilian doctor who grew up in Venezuela and left the country in 2018 due to the ongoing political and economic situation.
Trump “took the reins,” she added. “The reality is that they are a narco-government and that needed to be controlled.” It is “a great conquest,” she said. “I feel like something huge was accomplished, a victory and what a start of the year for Venezuela.” The next 48 hours in Venezuela could prove decisive, with risks of civil conflict and uncertainty over whether U.S. involvement escalates, according to one analyst. “I think the next 48 hours are probably the most crucial in this entire scenario,” said Brian Fonseca, director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy. “There is a pathway that could lead to pronounced civil conflict, and may force the Americans to double down even more.” Fonseca cautioned that removing President Nicolás Maduro does not automatically dismantle the power structures around him, and that “taking Maduro out doesn’t necessarily mean that the regime goes away.” “You have a political, military elite that are as tied to the survival of Maduro as Maduro himself, in many ways,” he told NBC News. (Read more.)

From the Gateway Pundit:

President Trump announced the successful “large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader,” adding that Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country.

The President further announced that a news conference will be held at his Mar-a-Lago home this morning at 11 am ET.

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. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow. There will be a News Conference today at 11 A.M., at Mar-a-Lago. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP (Read more.)