There is no question about the success of the military operation that captured President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and his wife Cilia Flores within just three and a half hours on 3 January.
Since then, a Venezuelan soldier’s account of a powerful ‘sonic weapon’ used by the US Military that made him feel like his head ‘was exploding from the inside’ has received quite a lot of attention online. All in all, the capture was an impressive display of military might and competence by the Trump administration.
However, whether or not people approve of it is a different question.
In the United States, there has been conflicting polling data published on the subject, with most pollsters measuring a close split among voters. In Venezuela, however, there is a much clearer majority opinion.
The London, United Kingdom-based news site The Economist has recently released a poll, in collaboration with the data analytics and polling firm Premise. It found that over 70 per cent of Venezuelans feel that the political situation will be either a little or much better within 12 months in their country. The survey was taken between 9 and 13 January, within a week of Maduro’s apprehension.
As for the outright support of the capture of President Maduro, the same poll found that a little over 50 per cent of Venezuelan residents approve of the operation.
Nicolás Maduro was first elected President of Venezuela in a very close election in April 2013, as a member of the United Socialist Party. He managed to stay in power after the 2018 and 2024 presidential elections. However, those two results were never accepted as legitimate by major geopolitical powers such as the United States and the European Union, due to the banning of viable opposition candidates and alleged widespread voter fraud.
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