Early Saturday morning, Jan. 3, President Donald Trump confirmed that U.S. forces had captured and removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from Caracas in an overnight raid, bringing them to New York City to face U.S. federal drug charges. Two days later, Maduro and his wife both pleaded “not guilty” at their arraignment and said they had been “kidnapped.”
President Trump’s decision to capture a world leader through a military operation — historically an act of war requiring authorization from Congress — has been met with mixed reactions online. Global spectators have considered Maduro an illegitimate leader since the 2024 Venezuelan election, and have long been concerned about his authoritarian tactics. Simultaneously, many online observers feel conflicted about the U.S.’ unprecedented use of force on foreign turf.
One major tension underlying conversations about Maduro’s removal stems from claims that a majority of Venezuelans are happy to see him go, regardless of their feelings about Trump’s methods or motives. One video posted on TikTok by CNN’s official account shows Venezuelans living in Doral, Florida, and Santiago, Chile, appearing to celebrate Maduro’s capture in large-scale public gatherings. The video has received 1.4 million likes and 23,000 comments since it was posted.
Some commenters, however, expressed skepticism about the video’s ability to speak for Venezuelans actually living in the country.
“Show us from Caracas, Venezuela,” one top commenter said, giving rise to a reply chain in which several users uploaded images they claimed depicted celebrations among citizens in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, a viral video that appeared to show celebrations in the streets of several Venezuelan cities was later confirmed to be AI-generated. It has earned more than 5 million views. Similarly misleading photos and videos have played into the online narratives over the past week.
Commenters on the CNN video also debated whether the criticism of the U.S.’ unprecedented intervention resulted from a blind hatred of President Trump.
“Liberals are saying Trump is evil,” one user wrote in the CNN thread. “He just helped liberate Venezuela.”
“Everyone is glad Maduro is gone, that’s not what the concern is,” another user responded. ”It’s the US’s greedy motivations and the impending power vacuum and potential chaos.”
Another user commented with a meme image, borrowed from the animated movie “Megamind,” in which one character says “You have freed us!” and another responds “Oh, I wouldn’t say ‘freed,’ more like ‘under new management.’”
Allegations that Trump’s decision to capture Maduro was partly an attempt to control Venezuela’s oil market have gained popularity online over the past week, and appear to be confirmed by recent statements from the president.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago on the day of Maduro’s capture.
Last Tuesday, Trump announced that Venezuela would turn over 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. By Friday, the U.S. military had seized five oil tankers linked to Venezuela.
One TikTok user posted a video of himself recreating the flight of one of those tankers through the Atlantic by running down the hallways of his apartment. The video, which had been liked 120,000 times, has received comments by opponents and supporters of the seizures alike. One commenter wrote, “USA standing on business.” Another said, “The US is really behaving like an empire.”
The conversation on social media has also turned to how Venezuelans feel about Maduro’s replacement. Many online accounts seem to believe that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as president a week ago, may not facilitate the democratic liberation many advocates want.
One X post from @VenEsVenezuela, an account with 28,000 followers representing an advocacy group that claims to “defend the truth of Venezuela,” depicts several instances of graffiti in Portugesa, Venezuela, with the words “DelcyNarco.” The post’s caption, translated from Spanish, says Rodríguez is “considered the central architect of Venezuela’s repressive system and a representative of the transnational criminal activity of the narcodictatorship.”
Users on the Reddit thread r/AskVenezuela discussed attitudes on social media since Maduro’s capture: “This is what Reddit feels like today,” one user said last Saturday, accompanying the post with a meme reading “Silence, Venezuelans. An American Liberal is talking.” The post received 3,000 upvotes and 1,300 comments, with many commenters carrying out longer discussions debating Americans’ understanding of the nuances of the situation in Venezuela.
Another Reddit user on r/AskVenezuela uploaded a meme based on the famous Kanye West and Taylor Swift moment at the 2009 VMAs. West, labelled “Non-Venezuelans,” says “Imma let you finnish…” [sic] “…but Trump is there just to steal your oil.” In the image, Swift is labelled “Venezuela” and stands behind West, clutching her trophy uncertainly. The post received 1,000 upvotes, but several Venezuelan users took to the comments to argue that this sort of “memeification” of the event downplays their understanding of the political situation.
“I’m just here to learn from Americans how we should feel,” one user remarked sarcastically.
“It’s hilarious these people think that Venezuela actually controlled the oil under Maduro,” said another, alleging that Venezuelan citizens weren’t seeing the benefit of the country’s resources before the leader’s ouster either.
In a comment translated from Spanish, one user elaborated on their outlook. “If the situation in Venezuela truly improves, then bless the Americans and Trump, and may the changes be for the benefit of the Venezuelan people,” they said. “And let’s hope the cure isn’t worse than the disease.”