The Capture of Maduro Marks the Return of Hard Power Politics

The Capture of Maduro Marks the Return of Hard Power Politics

The season of peace on earth and goodwill to all men did not last long, and while I’ll shed no tears at seeing a corrupt dictator snatched from his lair, it’s fair to say that 2026 is off to an uneasy start. The market response to Donald Trump’s audacious swoop on Venezuela has been predictably muscular, with defence, mining and oil stocks climbing higher. The political fallout is much less clear-cut. The raid to capture President Maduro was fol…