Reactions from San Diegans were mixed following Saturday's military action in Venezuela, in which that country's President Nicolás Maduro was captured by the U.S. military and brought to New York to face drug charges.
Alejandra Herrera owns Encuento Cafe, an Old Town restaurant that serves Venezuelan food.
"We are very happy. We've been waiting for this for three years," she told City News Service. "It's something that we definitely needed."
Herrera immigrated to the United States from Venezuela 11 years ago. "It's going to be very difficult at the beginning," she said. " ... We are grateful to the United States."
Criseiea Waldenberg, president of Casa de Venezuela of San Diego, called it "one of the happiest moments of my life. Venezuela is FREE of this dictator!" she posted on Instagram. "Venezuelans tried the pacifist way for years with no results. A third of the population of Venezuela lives in exile, thousands have died, disappeared or are incarcerated.
"Venezuela used to be one of the top 10 strongest economies in the world. You know me, I'm all about love, peace and understanding, but long ago Venezuelans understood that with these criminals, violence was the only way out," Waldenberg's statement continued. "Venezuelans will FOREVER be thankful to the USA for finally listening to their plea for help."
However, Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-CA 51, stated her opposition to the operation on X.
"Kidnapping President Maduro in a regime change operation won't help protect the American people. It won't actually mitigate drug trafficking in the United States: Venezuela plays virtually no role in producing or trafficking fentanyl," Jacobs said.
"I strongly urge President Trump to abstain from further unauthorized actions and any occupation of Venezuela. Next week, the Senate will vote on a resolution to block U.S. military action against Venezuela absent authorization by Congress, and the House must do the same," Jacobs continued. "And the American people deserve answers, so Congress must be briefed by Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and our intelligence leaders as soon as possible."
Rep. Mike Levin, D-CA 49, also said President Donald Trump should have informed Congress prior to the raid.
"Nicolas Maduro was an illegitimate authoritarian ruler who dismantled Venezuela's democratic institutions and presided over repression, corruption, and economic collapse. Millions of Venezuelans have paid the price, and their country is better off without him," Levin said. "But that reality does not relieve the Trump administration of its constitutional obligations.
"I want to thank the men and women of our military and intelligence community for their professionalism and courage, and I am relieved that no American service members were killed. My gratitude, however, does not change that the President did not come to Congress to present a legal and strategic justification or seek the authorization the Constitution requires," Levin's statement continued. "That failure risks drawing the United States deeper into an unauthorized conflict, without the consent of the American people or their elected representatives."
Rep. Scott Peters, D-CA 50, said he was "deeply alarmed to wake up to the news that the United States has invaded — and now taken over — Venezuela.
"Nicolás Maduro is an illegitimate dictator who has caused immense suffering for the Venezuelan people. But Venezuela does not pose a security cost to the United States that would justify this action. It seems to be a move on Venezuelan oil resources. We know from the pardon of former Honduran President Hernandez that bringing Maduro to justice on drug charges is a pretext," Peters added.
"And while many Venezuelans and Americans hoped to see Maduro gone, we know that `running a country' will have ongoing costs. We know that from the two decades and trillions of dollars we gave in the Middle East. President Trump has now pulled the U.S. into another conflict that polling shows Americans overwhelmingly oppose. And after decades of endless wars, we do not need another one.
"In San Diego, a proud military community, we know better than most the costs of military action for our service members and their families back home. That's why we are particularly suspicious of impulsive military decisions with unclear objectives. We are grateful that no U.S. service members were killed and that the mission went as planned, but we are concerned about the undefined mission ahead," the statement continued.
" ... Congress is vested by the Constitution with the power to declare war, but Congress was not notified of this action ahead of time ... It's time for the administration to brief Congress on this action and the strategy going forward. Donald Trump continues to make our country weaker by losing friends and gaining enemies around the world. We need to prevent this from becoming another ill-conceived nation-building debacle," Peters said.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA 48, had a different take.
"Our elite military have again performed brilliantly with total effectiveness, and minimum loss of life. They are the best-trained, best- equipped, and bravest in the world," Issa posted on X. "Once again, @realDonaldTrump has taken strong action to protect America's homeland from neighboring threats of narcoterrorism and the scourge of deadly narcotics. The Trump Administration has my full support."
After months of escalating tensions in which the U.S. conducted deadly strikes against alleged drug boats from Venezuela, seized an oil tanker and ordered a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers, the U.S. military launched the large-scale operation in Caracas overnight Friday and early Saturday.
Maduro, who is under federal indictment in the United States for allegedly running a cartel that has funneled drugs into the U.S., and his wife were taken from their home and were being transported to New York to face charges.
At a news conference Saturday, Trump said the United States would "be running" Venezuela indefinitely until a "judicious" transfer of power could take place. He added that the United States would be taking over the country's oil fields, increasing production and allowing U.S. oil companies to sell the oil to other nations, including China and Russia.
"We don't want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years," Trump said. " ... We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country."
Trump accused Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores of a "campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens."
The president said previous U.S. strikes on drug boats had knocked out 97% of drugs coming into the United States by sea, "and those drugs mostly come from a place called Venezuela."
He added that each alleged drug boat was responsible for "on average 25,000 deaths."
Venezuela contains the world's largest proven oil reserves and used to be among its largest oil producers, but its production has fall off drastically in the last couple decades.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Saturday that the nature of the military operation, which officials planned for days but waited to launch until weather conditions were ideal, did not allow for congressional notification. Trump added that Congress was known to leak information, and that could have jeopardized the mission.
The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to formally declare war. In 1973, an attempt to further codify its control of military excursions amid the Vietnam War, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution. That act says the president must notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing armed forces into hostilities, and troops must be removed within 60-90 days if Congress doesn't authorize the action.
Since then, presidents have occasionally skirted the act, citing various exigencies, and its effectiveness continues to be debated.
San Diego-based ships deployed to the Caribbean in late 2025 for Operation Southern Spear including the guided-missile destroyers USS Stockdale and USS Sampson, along with the cruiser USS Lake Erie. These vessels operated as part of a larger U.S. Southern Command buildup targeting drug cartels.
It was unclear what role they may have played in the operation.
The group Indivisible North County San Diego planned a vigil at Camp Pendleton's main gate at 3 p.m. Saturday to protest the U.S. operation.
