MEXICO CITY — Argentina’s president known as it “good news for the free world.”
Iran condemned it as a “blatant violation of nationwide sovereignty.”
Canada mentioned little, besides that it was “monitoring developments carefully.”
The dramatic U.S. seize of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was cheered by world leaders allied with President Trump, and condemned by those that oppose him.
Different international locations responded fastidiously to information of the covert U.S. operation, hoping to remain out of the crosshairs of a famously vindictive American president who wields tariffs freely — and who has hinted at a willingness to broaden his army marketing campaign.
On Saturday, as particulars emerged in regards to the early morning apprehension of Maduro and his spouse from their Caracas dwelling by particular operations forces and the White Home plan to use Venezuela’s huge oil reserves, Trump boasted that he’s “reasserting American energy in a really highly effective approach” and steered that he could goal Cuba, Colombia and Mexico subsequent.
Venezuelans rejoice in Madrid after President Trump introduced that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown overseas on Saturday.
(Bernat Armangue / AP)
At a information convention, Trump mentioned he needs to “assist the folks in Cuba,” which he described as a “failing nation,” and threatened army motion in Colombia, whose leftist President Gustavo Petro has been considered one of Trump’s most vocal critics.
Trump asserted, with out proof, that Petro is a drug trafficker and warned that Colombia’s chief ought to “watch his ass.”
In an interview with Fox Information on Saturday, Trump additionally revived warnings that U.S. forces could intervene in Mexico, considered one of America’s closest allies.
“The cartels are operating Mexico,” he mentioned. “We’ve to do one thing.”
Some conservative leaders in Mexico welcome the prospect of U.S. drone strikes on cartel targets, and in current polls about half of Mexicans surveyed mentioned they assist U.S. assist with combating organized crime.
Venezuelan residents in Costa Rica rejoice throughout a rally after the affirmation of Nicolas Maduro’s seize this early morning in Caracas on January 3, 2026 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
(Manuel Arnoldo Robert Batalla/Getty Pictures)
However Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has repeatedly insisted that she is not going to permit the U.S. army to combat drug cartels inside her nation’s borders.
“It’s not going to occur,” she mentioned late final 12 months when Trump threatened such an operation. “We don’t need intervention by any international authorities.”
She reposted a press release by her Overseas Ministry on Saturday that mentioned “the federal government of Mexico vigorously condemns and rejects the army actions carried out unilaterally in current hours by the armed forces of america of America towards targets within the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
Sheinbaum additionally talked about the United Nations Constitution, which says members of the physique “shall chorus of their worldwide relations from the risk or use of drive towards the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
Folks participate in an illustration towards U.S. army motion in Venezuela in entrance of the White Home in Washington on Saturday.
(Mandel Ngan/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)
Trump’s actions prompted a uncommon assertion from Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose time period as Mexico’s president led to 2024, and who has hardly ever spoken publicly since his retirement.
“I’m retired from politics, however my libertarian convictions forestall me from remaining silent within the face of the smug assault on the sovereignty of the Venezuelan folks and the kidnapping of their president,” mentioned López Obrador, who fashioned a friendship with Trump throughout the first Trump presidency. “Neither [Simon] Bolívar nor Lincoln would settle for america authorities appearing as a worldwide tyranny.”
A person holds the flags of Venezuela and america subsequent to the statue of Simon Bolivar in Bolivar Sq. throughout a rally after the affirmation of Nicolas Maduro’s seize this early morning in Caracas on January 3, 2026 in Bogota, Colombia.
(Andres Rot/Getty Pictures)
He advised Trump to not bend to the desire of advisors urgent for army actions. “Inform the hawks to go to hell; you’ve gotten the capability to behave with sensible judgment,” López Obrador mentioned.
In Latin America, the Center East and in different elements of the world aware of the lengthy shadow of American intervention, Saturday’s operation stirred reminiscences of previous U.S. airstrikes, coups d’état and army invasions.
“The bombings on Venezuelan territory and the seize of its president cross an unacceptable line,” mentioned Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He mentioned Maduro’s ouster recalled “the darkest moments of [U.S.] interference in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
United Nations Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres, with out mentioning specifics or potential new targets, seen the motion towards Maduro as setting “a harmful precedent,” in accordance with his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric.
“He’s deeply involved that the foundations of worldwide legislation haven’t been revered,” Dujarric mentioned of Guterres.
A person burns a United States flag throughout a rally after the affirmation of Nicolas Maduro’s seize this early morning in Caracas on January 3, 2026 in San Salvador, El Salvador.
(Getty Pictures)
U.S. intervention within the area dates again 200 years, when President James Monroe declared Latin America off limits to European colonization and started a marketing campaign to ascertain the U.S. as a hemispheric energy.
Over many years, the U.S. carried out an array of interventions, from army invasions to covert operations to financial stress campaigns. Motivations included preventing communism and defending U.S. enterprise pursuits.
In his Saturday information convention, Trump hailed the Monroe Doctrine, which many in Latin American have condemned as an imperialist blueprint.
“We’ve superceded it by loads,” Trump mentioned of the doctrine. “American dominance within the Western Hemisphere won’t ever be questioned once more.”
Whereas many international locations in Latin America criticized the U.S. marketing campaign in Venezuela, others applauded it, highlighting the stark political divisions right here.
“The time is coming for all of the narco-Chavista criminals,” wrote conservative Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on X, referring to followers of Hugo Chávez, the late leftist revolutionary who served as president of Venezuela earlier than Maduro. “Their construction will lastly collapse throughout all the continent.”
Venezuelan residents in Peru rejoice throughout a rally after the affirmation of Nicolas Maduro’s seize this early morning in Caracas on January 3, 2026 in Lima, Peru.
(Mariana Bazo/Getty Pictures)
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who final 12 months housed Venezuelan deportees from america in his nation’s most infamous jail, posted {a photograph} issued by america on Saturday of Maduro blindfolded and in handcuffs.
The international ministry of Uruguay, in the meantime, mentioned it rejected “army intervention by one nation within the territory of one other.”
The actions in Venezuela reverberated globally.
Beijing, which has sought to broaden its affect in Latin America in current many years, mentioned in a press release that “China is deeply shocked and strongly condemns the U.S.’s blatant use of drive towards a sovereign state and its motion towards its president.”
Iran, whose management frets about being within the crosshairs of an analogous U.S. operation, mentioned the motion in Venezuela “represents a grave breach of regional and worldwide peace and safety.”
“Its penalties have an effect on all the worldwide system,” it mentioned.
