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EXCLUSIVE: A House lawmaker who fled one Communist dictator will put forward a congressional resolution formally commending President Donald Trump for the humanitarian feat of ousting another, as Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro now sits in a New York prison.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., fled Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba as a young boy, telling Fox News Digital that what Trump and the U.S. military were able to do without American casualties was “extraordinary.”
“I’m introducing a resolution that congratulates President Trump on his actions and also the way in which the arrest was conducted by law enforcement agents, but also facilitated obviously by the armed forces of the United States,” Gimenez said.
“I think that we should congratulate the president for taking the action, but also our own forces in the manner in which they conduct.”
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Rep. Carlos Gimenez, the only Cuban-born member of Congress, discussed the situation in Venezuela after its former leader’s ouster by the U.S. (Alex Wong/Getty Images; Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
Trump’s operation was the largest-scale iteration yet of what is being dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine” – a play-on of the 1823 doctrine of President James Monroe that warned foreign European powers against further colonizing the West.
Trump’s doctrine deems the Western Hemisphere a core security responsibility of the U.S., and the Maduro arrest showed his administration will give teeth to Monroe’s policy and pressure hostile governments directly.
“I don’t think there’s no other way to deal with these narco-terrorists — They’re just not going to give up,” Gimenez said of the “Donroe Doctrine” in action in the Caribbean.
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“There was an arrest warrant. There’s a $50 million bounty on his head, $25 million of which was put on by Joe Biden and his administration. The difference is this president actually did something about it and enforced that arrest warrant and went in and got him. And, so, you know, I find absolutely nothing wrong with what he did.”
Gimenez called it a “seismic event” for the west and that now other strongmen regimes around the world are taking notice.
The resolution itself officially commends Trump, the Armed Forces, the Intel community and DOJ for “remarkable success of ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’” in Caracas.
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Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro addresses supporters during a rally marking the anniversary of the 19th-century Battle of Santa Ines in Caracas, Venezuela, on Dec. 10, 2025. (Pedro Rances Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Whereas, on January 3, 2026, President Donald J. Trump demonstrated extraordinary political courage by authorizing ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ to apprehend the dictator Nicolás Maduro and dismantle the command structure of the Cártel de los Soles.”
The resolution notes that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are accused of narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to possess machine guns – all violations of federal law.
“Whereas, in 2024, the regime finalized its transition to full authoritarianism when its controlled Supreme Court ratified a 15-year ban on the leading opposition candidate, María Corina Machado – [and] to maintain his grip on power, the Maduro regime carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings, tortured political opponents, and terrorized the Venezuelan people, fueling the largest displacement crisis in the history of the Western Hemisphere,” Gimenez’ resolution continued, delineating why it was so crucial that Trump took action against a geographically proximate threat.
“[Congress] stands in solidarity with the people of Venezuela and supports a rapid, constitutional transition to free and fair elections to restore the democratic institutions dismantled by the Maduro dictatorship,” he said.
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However, Gimenez warned during his interview with Fox News Digital that not all of Congress is onboard with condemning authoritarian or Communist regimes like Maduro’s.
“They do have some [defenders]. Believe me, they’re always, they’ve got people here [on Capitol Hill] defending them, and trying to stop the actions that will lead to democracy and freedom in the Western hemisphere. They come to the aid and to the defense of these indefensible regimes — We have some here in Congress that do that. They’re not a majority but they’re here.”
