Conservative Party leader in the United Kingdom (UK), Kemi Badenoch has declared that the United States is morally right to capture Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking with the press on Tuesday, Badenoch argued that while the legal basis for the middle-of-the-night raid on Caracas remains a subject for international lawyers, the capture of Maduro, whom she described as a “brutal dictator,” is a win for global democracy.
While the UK’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour government have maintained a cautious distance, refusing to explicitly condemn or condone the action, Badenoch has taken a more assertive stance.
Speaking further, Badenoch explained that her experience during the military regime era in Nigeria made her sympathetic to those celebrating the capture of Maduro.
She said: “What’s happened is quite extraordinary, but I understand why America has done it.
“Where the legal certainty is not yet clear, morally, I do think it was the right thing to do.”
Badenoch, who was born in the UK in 1980, but grew up in Nigeria before returning to the UK at the age of 16 in 1996, added: “I am different from other party leaders and other people in the House of Commons.
“I grew up under a military dictatorship, so I know what it’s like to have someone like Maduro in charge.
“We act as if it is still 1995, where we’re living off the peace dividend of the Cold War and World War Two. The world has changed.”
The Tory leader also echoed Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Greenland warning to Trump after the US president suggested the Arctic territory is required for US security.
Badenoch said: “It is not for sale. What happens in Greenland is up to Denmark and the people of Greenland.”
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the U.S captured Maduro during an operation, which took place on Saturday, January 3, 2026.
Following the operation, the U.S special forces transport Maduro and his wife to New York to face “narco-terrorism” and weapons charges.
Sharing more details on Tuesday, U.S President Donald Trump described the capture of Maduro and his wife as an “amazing military achievement” in Venezuela.
Trump explained that “many, many” people were killed, “mostly Cubans” when US elite troops stormed Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores’ Caracas compound on Saturday.
Cuba has said 32 Cubans died during the incident, with local media in Venezuela reporting 57 people in total – including two civilian women – were killed.
Trump added that 152 planes took part in the operation and that no Americans were killed.
“The United States proved once again that we have the most powerful, most lethal, most sophisticated, and most fearsome,” he said.
“It’s a fearsome military on planet Earth, and it’s not even close. You know, I’ve been saying it for a long time. Nobody can take us.”
