Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro boasted about his country’s Iranian defensive capabilities just days before U.S. forces captured him in a dramatic overnight raid. Maduro’s forces, comprised of some foreign military, held out for eight minutes. They lost at least 32 Cuban military personnel. The US lost no one and won.
Maduro reportedly claimed that air-defense systems his government received from Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would protect Venezuela from any attack, according to a post on X by Ahmed Quraishi, a journalist covering national security in the Middle East and North Africa.
Maduro boasted about Venezuela’s military readiness.
“The national defensive system that combines the Popular Force, military, and police has guaranteed and continues to guarantee territorial integrity, the peace of the country, and the use and enjoyment of all our territories,” Maduro said. “And our people are safe and at peace.”
In the interview that aired on Venezuelan state television, Maduro sat behind the wheel of a car with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet in the passenger seat.
The Venezuelan ‘President’ said his government stood ready to negotiate a drug trafficking agreement with the United States.
In reality, Maduro wanted to delay and do nothing. Biden gave him a break once if Maduro promised to hold a fair election. Maduro then held a corrupt election, which Edmundo Gonzalez actually won.
Maduro claimed he was ready to talk.
“The U.S. government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we’re ready,” Maduro said during the interview. “If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investment, like with Chevron, whenever they want it, wherever they want it, and however they want it.”
Maduro called on both countries to “start talking seriously, with data in hand.” His replacement, Interim President Fernandez will try to play the same game.
#Maduro bragged days ago:
“The air-defense systems we received from #Iran and #IRGC will protect our country from any attack.”
Today? Captured. pic.twitter.com/9RP83LHxvg https://t.co/ppnChXbrJP
— Ahmed Quraishi (@_AhmedQuraishi) January 3, 2026
Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty in court today. He claims he was kidnapped, but he was actually extracted.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris put a $25 million bounty on Nicolas Maduro before they left office. They said he was a narco terrorist and not a legitimate head of state. Now that President Trump is doing something about it, they are claiming he is in the wrong.
President Trump received support from Democrat Eric Adams, who wrote on X:
You do not label someone a narco-dictator one year and then pretend he is no longer a threat the next simply because a different president is in office. That is cynical and irresponsible.
Maduro’s drugs have killed thousands of Americans and continue to endanger our children. Imagine being the parents of 2-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici, who died from fentanyl poisoning in a Bronx daycare, and watching this political theater.
America is safer today because Maduro is no longer in power.
Welcome to New York, Nicolás.
On January 10, 2025, the Biden-Harris administration put a $25 million bounty on Nicolás Maduro for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
Public safety is not a political game.
You do not label someone a narco-dictator one year and then pretend he is no longer a… https://t.co/KC8qzUFTLc pic.twitter.com/iPHSm2DppQ
— Eric Adams (@ericadamsfornyc) January 4, 2026
