Maduro Bragged Just Days Before Capture That Iranian Air-Defense Systems Would Protect Venezuela

By Mark Tanos

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro boasted about his country’s defensive capabilities just days before U.S. forces captured him in a dramatic overnight raid.

Maduro reportedly claimed that air-defense systems his government received from Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would protect Venezuela from any attack, according to a post on X by Ahmed Quraishi, a journalist covering national security in the Middle East and North Africa who previously served as a war correspondent in Lebanon, Iraq, and the Gulf region.

Maduro touted Venezuela’s military readiness. “The national defensive system that combines the Popular Force, military, and police has guaranteed and continues to guarantee territorial integrity, the peace of the country, and the use and enjoyment of all our territories,” Maduro said. “And our people are safe and at peace.”

In the interview that aired on Venezuelan state television, Maduro sat behind the wheel of a car with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet in the passenger seat. The Venezuelan leader said his government stood ready to negotiate a drug trafficking agreement with the United States. (RELATED: Trump Hints Which Dictator Could Be Next After Toppling Maduro)

“The U.S. government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we’re ready,” Maduro said during the interview. “If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investment, like with Chevron, whenever they want it, wherever they want it and however they want it.”

Maduro called on both countries to “start talking seriously, with data in hand.”

President Donald Trump confirmed early Saturday that U.S. forces carried out strikes in Caracas and captured Maduro along with his wife, in a post on Truth Social.