Retired Air Force Gen. Blaine Holt said Venezuelans are "celebrating in the streets by the hundreds of thousands" following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, arguing the moment signals a potential turning point that Venezuelans themselves, not U.S. troops, will shape.
Speaking Saturday on Newsmax’s "America Right Now," Holt said the United States is unlikely to deploy an invasion or stability force in Venezuela, predicting instead that citizens will "take the country into their own hands" and determine their own political outcome in the wake of Maduro’s detention.
Holt described Maduro’s capture as only one piece of a broader campaign against international drug cartels, which he called the "vascular system" of global illicit activity.
He said Maduro, now a defendant, could prove "pretty useful" to U.S. investigators as authorities press the wider effort.
While acknowledging that operational details may remain classified, Holt said President Trump is expected to provide a fuller account of the mission.
Holt also framed the action as an exercise of presidential authority to protect the United States from drug trafficking, citing the toll of overdose deaths and warning that other regional leaders tied to cartel networks should be "deeply concerned" about what comes next.
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