Mandla Mandela has strongly condemned the reported capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump, describing the action as an unlawful violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty and international law.
In a media statement issued from Mvezo Komkhulu on Saturday, 3 January 2026, Mandela said no country has the authority to detain or remove the democratically elected leader of another sovereign state.
| “We denounce in the strongest terms the illegal assault on Venezuela’s sovereignty carried out by the United States under the Trump administration. No president has the authority to ‘capture’ another nation’s democratically elected leader; this act flagrantly violates international law and reveals a dangerous supremacist agenda.”
Mandela placed the alleged operation within a broader historical context, accusing the United States of pursuing regime-change agendas across multiple regions for decades, often with devastating consequences.
| “For more than seventy years the United States has pursued regime change campaigns across Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, ignoring the bitter lessons of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Vietnam, Cambodia, Libya, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. The pattern repeats itself today, and the world watches in stunned silence.”
He criticised what he described as the international community’s failure to respond decisively, warning that silence in the face of such actions enables further abuses of power.
| “It is astonishing that, in this era, a nation can act with such blatant impunity while the rest of the world remains frozen in stunned silence. This is not a moment for timid or feeble leadership.”
Mandela further pointed to President Trump’s own public statements as confirmation of the seriousness of the situation.
| “The USA has launched an outright attack on the sovereign state of Venezuela. President Donald Trump himself boasted that the United States had executed a large-scale strike, claiming that President Maduro and his wife had been seized and taken out of the country.”
He concluded by warning that unchecked global power sets a dangerous precedent.
| “Over the past months we have watched President Trump push forward his agenda unchecked, while the international community has done little but inadvertently empower a leader who takes whatever he desires, whenever he desires. Who shall be next?”
The statement adds to growing international concern and condemnation following the reported US military operation in Venezuela.
