The fall of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro was the result of months of planning with the elite unit of North American military power: Delta Force.
Confirmed by the Pentagon and detailed by President Donald Trump, in a statement, the operation captured Maduro in the early hours of Saturday bears the signature of the most closed and efficient counterterrorism unit in the world.
Unlike conventional forces, Delta Force, officially the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, operates in secrecy. It’s the same unit that hunted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in his spider hole and pursued drug trafficker Pablo Escobar. Now, they add the capture of the leader of the Chavista regime to their list of trophies.
Capture of Maduro
Donald Trump revealed details of the incursion. According to the republican, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were hiding in a highly fortified residence. According to reports in the North American press, US intelligence, from the CIA, had infiltrated the high levels of the Venezuelan government, and prepared for the worst-case scenario. Trump highlighted Delta Force’s level of preparation:
“US forces were prepared with massive torches to cut steel,” Trump said, referring to security measures at the site.
The highlight of the mission, according to the president, was the execution: no American officer was injured. The effectiveness of the attack would eliminate the need for a second wave of attacks by US forces.
Who are the Delta Force operators?
Created in the late 1970s, Delta Force’s main unit is headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It reports directly to the United States Joint Special Operations Command.
Unlike the elite members of the American Navy, famous for the death of bin Laden and greater media exposure, Delta Force maintains a profile of “silent professionals”. Its operators would be from other special operations units, going through a rigid selection process, physically and psychologically.
The mission is to resolve crises, rescue hostages, neutralize terrorists and, as seen in Venezuela, capture targets, including dictators, who threaten regional or global security.
History of hunting tyrants by Delta Force
The operation in Caracas is not the first time that Delta Force has been called upon to dismantle the leadership of hostile regimes or criminal organizations in Latin America or even the Middle East. These were Delta Force’s best-known targets:
- Saddam Hussein: It was Delta operators who located and captured the Iraqi dictator in 2003.
- Pablo Escobar: The unit assisted in the hunt for the Colombian drug baron in the 1990s.
- Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: In 2019, under the first Trump administration, the unit led the operation that resulted in the death of the Islamic State leader.
Now, with Maduro on his way to New York to face American justice, Saturday’s operation goes down in history as yet another demonstration that, for the United States military elite, there are no impenetrable fortresses.
