The Venezuelan dictator's days are numbered
President Trump has directed the Pentagon to prepare options for the possible use of military force against drug cartels. The Cartel de los Soles, linked to the Venezuelan government, was designated as a foreign terrorist organization. And a $50 million reward — the highest in U.S. history — was announced for the capture of Maduro himself.
The reward on Maduro's head is not just a random number, but a sign of the weight the Trump administration places on the Chavista tyranny. Numbers matter. The reward for Osama Bin Laden was $25 million and was$30 million for Saddam Hussein's sons. In the case of Mexican drug lords, 'El Chapo' Guzmán reached $5 million and Rafael Caro Quintero $20 million. All of these men were arrested or assassinated. Rewards matter and determine the fate of many terrorists and tyrants.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the direct connection between Maduro's regime and terrorist organizations such as the Cartel de los Soles and Tren de Aragua. Rubio also emphasized that this designation provides 'legal authority to target them in ways you can't if they're just a bunch of criminals. It's no longer a law enforcement issue. It has become a national security issue. It allows us to now target what they're operating and to use other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, whatever.'
But Maduro isn't just a threat in terms of international drug trafficking. He is a threat to Venezuelans themselves. According to United Nations reports, the government of Venezuela continues to engage in actions constituting crimes against humanity, including persecution of political leaders, imprisonment of civic rights defenders and severe deprivation of physical liberty, and other crimes.
María Corina Machado, Venezuela's main opposition leader, said Maduro poses a threat to hemispheric security. Indeed, Venezuela represents the most urgent crisis in the Western Hemisphere, and its final resolution is everyone's responsibility. Machado also noted that Maduro's criminal regime continues to repress and violate human rights, implementing practices that constitute state terrorism, according to the Inter American Commission of Human Rights.
The latest signals issued by the U.S. are unwavering. This doesn't sound like a warning, but like a warrant. The days of sanctions and statements are over in the face of a regime that seems indifferent and immovable.
In 1989, the U.S. implemented Operation Just Cause, invading Panama in order to extract narco-dictator Manuel Noriega and to recognize the true winner of that country's presidential elections. Maduro in Venezuela, like Noriega before him, has become a vociferous narco-dictator who opposes the U.S.
But in 2025, it is no longer necessary to have a massive deployment of troops on the ground. The recent U.S. airstrikes in Iran known as Operation Midnight Hammer demonstrated that other resources are available to change the course of history. Very specific actions and precise objectives can help bring about regime change from within, or at least alter the status quo.
After nearly 25 years of the Chavista regime, the situation in Venezuela is worsening every day. International collaboration is needed to end a tragedy that represents a clear and present danger to Latin America and the U.S.
What happens in Venezuela will have an extraordinary impact on preventing, persuading and weakening other dictatorships in the Western Hemisphere. Peace through strength is urgently needed to renew and recover U.S. leadership as a guarantor and defender of security, democracy and freedom for all.
Arturo McFields is an exiled journalist, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States, and a former member of the Norwegian Peace Corps. He is an alumnus of the National Defense University's Security and Defense Seminar and the Harvard Leadership course.
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