President Donald Trump used a celebratory news conference on Jan. 5 to publicly hail the U.S. capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, laying out a forceful view of American power in Latin America that exposed divisions across the region. Hours before Maduro was taken through the offices of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New York, Trump said, “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”
The U.S. actions marked what the Associated Press described as a culmination of months of escalation in Washington’s confrontation with Caracas, a sequence that resurrected comparisons to past periods of U.S. interventionism in the hemisphere. The AP reported that since taking office less than a year ago, Trump launched boat strikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean, ordered a naval blockade on Venezuelan oil exports, and renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. The AP also said Trump meddled in elections in Honduras and Argentina, while pressuring Latin American leaders through a mix of tariffs, sanctions and military force.
Trump’s administration has framed its foreign policy as a doctrine of domination, calling it the “Donroe Doctrine” after President James Monroe’s belief that the U.S. should dominate its sphere of influence, according to the AP. In that portrayal, the hemisphere is divided into allies and foes—an approach that left governments and political parties responding in starkly different directions after Maduro’s capture.
Gimena Sanchez, Andes director for the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank, said the administration’s goal was to reshape regional politics, adding, “The Trump administration in multiple different ways has been trying to reshape Latin American politics.” She characterized the approach as a show of force, saying, “They’re showing their teeth in the whole region.”
Right-wing leaders in South America and beyond highlighted Maduro’s removal as ideological alignment with Trump, while left-leaning presidents warned that the episode crossed legal or stability lines. Argentine President Javier Milei framed the split by describing one side as supporting “democracy, the defense of life, freedom and property,” and adding that on the other side were “accomplices of a narco-terrorist and bloody dictatorship that has been a cancer for our region.”
In Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa issued a warning referencing Hugo Chávez, Maduro’s mentor and founder of the Bolivarian revolution, saying, “Your structure will completely collapse across the entire continent.” In Chile, where a presidential election last month contributed to the fall of the leftist government amid fears about Venezuelan immigration, President-elect José Antonio Kast hailed the U.S. raid as “great news for the region.”
Several left-wing leaders issued sharper condemnations. The AP reported that Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the raid set “an extremely dangerous precedent.” Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum warned it “jeopardizes regional stability.” Chile’s Gabriel Boric said it “violated an essential pillar of international law,” and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro called it “aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and of Latin America.” The AP reported that Trump had previously punished or threatened those leaders for failing to fall in line, while boosting or bailing out allies who demonstrated loyalty.
The response also reflected discomfort among some close allies who are typically enthusiastic about Trump’s moves. For example, the AP reported that El Salvador President Nayib Bukele was unusually quiet, posting a meme mocking Maduro after his capture but not expressing the same jubilation seen from other regional figures.
In Bolivia, conservative President Rodrigo Paz praised Maduro’s removal, saying it fulfilled “the true popular will” of Venezuelans who tried to vote the autocrat out in a 2024 election widely seen as fraudulent. Paz also said, “Bolivia reaffirms that the way out for Venezuela is to respect the vote,” the AP reported. But later, the AP said Trump announced he would work with Maduro loyalist vice president Delcy Rodríguez rather than the opposition that prevailed in the 2024 election.
Kevin Whitaker, a former deputy chief of mission for the State Department in Caracas, criticized what he said was a lack of deference to electoral results, telling the AP, “The Trump administration, it appears at this point, is making decisions about the democratic future of Venezuela without referring back to the democratic result,” the AP reported. When asked Sunday about when Venezuela would hold democratic elections, Trump replied, “I think we’re looking more at getting it fixed.”
As right-wing leaders rose across parts of Latin America, the AP said the Maduro episode fit into Trump’s broader effort to assemble an allied—or at least acquiescent—group of governments in the hemisphere. Alexander Gray, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, described the approach as seeking alignment: “The president is going to be looking for allied and partner nations in the hemisphere who share his kind of broader ideological affinity.”
Trump also signaled pressure beyond Venezuela. The AP reported that he told reporters Sunday on Air Force One, “We’re in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful, where the oil is allowed to really come out,” and added, “It’s our hemisphere.” In the same stretch, the AP said he told reporters that Cuba’s Communist government “looks like it’s ready to fall,” warned “something’s going to have to be done with Mexico,” and repeated allegations about Petro saying he “likes making cocaine,” adding, “he’s not going to be doing it very long.”