As the dust settles on the daring US military operation-“Operation Absolute Resolve”-that captured Nicolás Maduro on January 3, the world is left reeling. President Donald Trump’s swift decision to seize the Venezuelan leader and his wife, Cilia Flores, and fly them to New York for trial on narco-terrorism charges has thrown Latin America into turmoil. Handcuffed and facing justice in a Brooklyn detention centre, Maduro’s ouster marks a dramatic turning point, with Trump boldly declaring that the US will temporarily “run” Venezuela to stabilise it, secure its vast oil reserves, and pave the way for democracy-potentially with American companies at the helm.