The weekend’s military operation to bring to justice an indicted narco-terrorist isn’t about nation-building or endless forever wars. It’s about protecting American citizens, securing our borders, and reasserting American sovereignty in our own hemisphere — which makes it a righteous use of government power.
This article is a lightly edited transcript of the “Here’s the Point” podcast by Ryan Helfenbein, executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center.
Over the weekend, U.S. Special Forces group Delta Force captured Nicolás Maduro in a targeted operation in Caracas, Venezuela. The 66-year-old dictator was indicted by the United States in 2020 on narcoterrorism charges and has been wanted for trafficking over 250 metric tons of cocaine into the United States annually — contributing to the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans from drug overdoses each year.
Maduro was not recognized as the legitimate president of Venezuela by the United States, the European Union, and dozens of Western nations following his fraudulent 2018 election. Under his regime, Venezuela descended into economic collapse, with over 7 million Venezuelans fleeing the country — the largest refugee crisis in the Western Hemisphere. Many of those refugees were funneled into migrant caravans heading directly to the U.S. southern border.
The operation has drawn both praise and criticism. Argentine President Javier Milei applauded the action, calling it “a victory for freedom and the rule of law.” Mexico’s leftist president Claudia Sheinbaum condemned it as “imperialism.”
Many leftists in the United States have questioned the constitutional grounds, but this action has legal precedent.
In 1989, then-President George H.W. Bush ordered the invasion of Panama to capture dictator Manuel Noriega, who was also indicted on drug trafficking charges. That operation did not require a congressional declaration of war, and federal courts upheld its legality.
And let’s not forget that both President Clinton and President Obama acted without congressional approval in Serbia, Kosovo, Libya, and Syria. If those interventions were justified, how much more justified is removing a narco-terrorist dictator whose power and government were illegitimate, not recognized by more than 50 nations.
So how should think about all of this?
First, this action revitalizes the Monroe Doctrine and reasserts American leadership in the Western Hemisphere.
The Monroe Doctrine, established in 1823, declared that the Americas were no longer open to European or foreign interference and that the United States would view any such interference in the Western Hemisphere as a threat to national security. For two centuries, this doctrine shaped American foreign policy and kept hostile foreign powers out of America’s backyard.
Under the Obama administration that doctrine was effectively abandoned. John Kerry announced in 2013, “The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over.” But what did that produce?
It opened the doorway for China, Russia, and Islamic terrorist groups like Hezbollah. China moved aggressively into Latin America with their Belt and Road Initiative, signing massive infrastructure deals with Venezuela, including one of the largest oil entitlement reserves, while also building military installations and establishing intelligence-gathering operations.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Maduro multiple times, discussing everything from oil exports to military cooperation.
President Trump’s action has sent a clear message: The Western Hemisphere is America’s sphere of influence and the United States government will not tolerate hostile foreign governments or terrorist operations in our backyard.
This is entirely consistent with Just War Theory and America’s longstanding foreign policy realism.
Let’s be clear: Adopting the posture of being anti-intervention any time there is an international conflict is not a conservative principle any more than being always pro-war is. Utopian or libertarian pacifism is not conservatism, any more than imperialism.
There is always a time and place for America to act, to act justly, and to act in defense of our own interests. Taking Maduro out of Venezuela was one of those times.
Second, ending the flow of illegal drugs into the United States required removing Maduro.
Venezuela under Maduro became a narco-terrorist state. His regime partnered with Colombian drug cartels, providing safe harbor, laundering money, and facilitating the trafficking of cocaine into the United States. The DEA estimates that Venezuelan-based operations were responsible for trafficking over 250 metric tons of cocaine annually into the U.S. — drugs that killed tens of thousands of Americans.
But Venezuela isn’t the only problem. Mexico’s cartels control vast territories along our southern border, trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. Notice the contrast in reactions we saw this last week: Mexico’s president condemned the Maduro operation — a country that hosts some of the world’s largest drug cartels and refuses to confront them. Mexico’s government is very compromised when it comes to drug and human trafficking, bribes, and blackmail.
There’s a reason the Mexican president will not support this action, in the same way that Zohran Mamdani and leftists in the United States oppose the collapse of socialism in Venezuela.
Third, lest we forget, Maduro emptied Venezuela’s prisons and sent his worst drug trafficking criminals to the United States. Removing him from power was just retribution.
Remember Aurora, Colorado? Venezuelan gangs from Tren de Aragua took over apartment complexes, extorting residents and terrorizing communities. That wasn’t an isolated incident. Maduro deliberately emptied Venezuela’s prisons and funnelled convicted criminals into the United States across the southern border.
Under Biden’s open border policies, those criminals entered the United States, bringing violence and chaos to American cities. Gang members have been arrested across the United States from New York, to Texs, to California. Many gruesome murders are tied to Venezuela specifically.. Maduro used America’s own immigration system as a weapon against us. This wasn’t immigration—it was weaponized migration.
President Trump’s action sends a clear message: You cannot use America as a dumping ground for your nation’s worst criminals without consequences. Venezuela will not weaponize migration against the United States. And those who do will be held accountable.
Romans 13 is clear: Government exists to execute God’s wrath on those who promote and practice evil. God ordained civil authorities to wield the sword and to be terror to evil and to the protection of the innocent. When government fails to wield the sword righteously, evil goes unpunished and the righteous suffer.
This isn’t about nation-building or endless forever wars. This is about protecting American citizens, securing our borders, and reasserting American sovereignty in our own hemisphere. It is the righteous use of power and the proper role of government.
Pray for stability and peace in Venezuela. Pray for the Venezuelan people who are no doubt grieving the tremendous loss endured under Maduro and celebrating his just end.
Pray for our nation, for President Trump, and for our leaders to continue to act shrewdly and judiciously in executing a peaceful transition of power in Venezuela for the Venezuelan people.
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