In a significant geopolitical development, U.S. military forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on January 3, 2026. Despite ousting Maduro, the U.S. installed his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as acting president, leaving the existing system largely intact rather than installing the winner of the 2024 election. This intervention, driven by figures like President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, aimed to remove Maduro, whose presidency followed Hugo Chávez and was marked by democratic backsliding and restricted freedoms since 1999. The article suggests the intervention's domestic significance relates to MAGA movement anxieties.