Maduro joins Iraq’s Saddam, Panama’s Noriega as latest leader taken by US

The world has been stunned by President Donald Trump’s claim that Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been taken by the United States as part of “large scale” attacks against Venezuela.

Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela’s vice president, claims that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are unknown to the government.

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Rodriguez claimed that the government was looking for evidence that Maduro and Flores are still alive in an audio message that was broadcast on state television on Saturday.

Following numerous deadly attacks by US forces on what it claims are drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, as well as an attack on a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats, the rapidly escalating developments come.

The US reportedly seizes Maduro, which brings back memories of earlier times when other leaders, such as former president Saddam Hussein and former military leader Manuel Noriega, were seized by the US.

Manuel Noriega

In a second direct intervention in Latin America, the US invaded Panama in 1989, citing undemocratic practices, corruption, and the illegal drug trade as justifications for the US’s invasion.

Prior to its 1988 indictment of Noriega for drug smuggling in Miami, the US also indicts Maduro.

Prior to the operation, Noriega supported anti-US sentiment in the country by forcing Nicolas Ardito Barletta to resign in 1985, cancelled the elections in 1989, and supported the operation’s outcome.

The US’s largest combat mission since the Vietnam War was conducted in Panama at the time. The US government cited a number of reasons for the operation, including sending Noriega to the US to face drug-trafficking charges, to improve the situation of Panamanians.

However, Washington declared the general persona non grata when he started to show signs of being less obedient to regional US designs.

After being flown to the US, he was tried on the Miami indictment and held there until 2010, when he was required to be taken back to France to stand a second trial. Then, a year later, France sent him back to Panama.

Noriega passed away in Panama in 2017, where he was completing a sentence for his crimes.

Saddam Hussein

Nine months after the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq began, Saddam Hussein was taken by US forces on December 13, 2003, based on false information that Baghdad had WMD in possession.

Similar to Noriega, Saddam had long been a key player in the Iraq-Iran war that resulted in the death of one million people in 1980.

In addition, the US asserted without justification that Saddam supported armed organizations like al-Qaeda in the run-up to the 2003 conflict.

However, the nation has never discovered any WMDs.

In a hole close to Tikrit, where Saddam was discovered hidden in a ditch.

He was tried in an Iraqi court and was given the death penalty, which led to his execution on December 30, 2006 by hanging for crimes against humanity.

Juan Orlando Hernandez

Hernandez’ case in Honduras exemplifies what some observers claim is a US policy that is hypocritical.

In February 2022, Hernandez was only days away from leaving his position as president of his nation when he was kidnapped in his Tegucigalpa home during an operation carried out by US agents and Honduran forces.

He was extradited to the US in April 2022 for his alleged involvement in corruption and the illegal drug trade, and he received a 45-year prison sentence the same year.

However, US President Donald Trump pardoned Hernandez on December 1, 2025.