Following the US raid capturing Nicolás Maduro, Emmanuel Macron welcomed the dictator's fall without condemning the intervention, prompting outrage from the French left. Leaders accused him of subservience to Washington, while over a thousand protested in Paris, burning a US flag.
In the wake of the US 'Absolute Resolve' operation capturing Nicolás Maduro in Caracas—detailed in the first article of this series—French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X on January 3, 2026: 'The Venezuelan people are today rid of Nicolás Maduro's dictatorship and can only rejoice.' He called for a swift democratic transition led by opposition figure Edmundo González Urrutia, without addressing the US strikes. His entourage noted the operation's success in ousting a dictator but stressed respect for international law, contrasting Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot's prior condemnation.
This position ignited fury on the French left. Jean-Luc Mélenchon (La France Insoumise) branded it a 'shame,' accusing Macron of abandoning international law and calling it a 'dark day' for France. Manuel Bompard decried France 'reduced to congratulating Trump's coups de force.' PS leader Olivier Faure insisted 'France is not a vassal state of the USA,' while Patrick Kanner and PC's Fabien Roussel labeled it a 'shame' and France the '51st US state.'
On Saturday afternoon, over 1,000 demonstrators gathered at Place de la République in Paris, organized by LFI, the PC, and collectives. Protesters burned a US flag on the statue. Mélenchon attended, demanding Maduro's 'immediate release and return' to Venezuela, denouncing 'pure imperialism' over oil interests and dismissing narcotrafficking claims as a pretext.
Reactions remain divided internationally, with Trump pledging US oversight of the transition, condemnations from China, Russia, and Iran, and calls for law from the EU and UN. Macron has consulted Trump, Milei, and Lula.
