Dictator's ouster good for Venezuela and the West

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The capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicholás Maduro and wife Cilia Flores by U.S. forces is cause for global celebration, though caution is warranted so long as the Maduro regime’s remaining leadership clings to power.

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Overnight strikes on the South American country were limited to military-related infrastructure, including the headquarters of the Venezuelan armed forces and a handful of air fields and ports. In the ensuing chaos, American special forces infiltrated Maduro’s fortress-like compound, detained him and his wife, and then transported them to New York to face drugs and weapons charges.

Other high-ranking members of the regime — such as the vice president, interior minister and Attorney General — were left untouched.

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U.S. officials, particularly Republicans, have long maintained that Maduro is not Venezuela’s legitimate leader, given his history of election fraud. They have instead characterized him as a narco-terrorist who personally leads the Cartel of the Suns, a criminal organization operated by the Armed Forces of Venezuela that specializes in drug trafficking, money laundering and terror financing.

Maduro is also widely despised by Venezuelans for his economic ineptitude, corruption and cruel autocratic rule. Since he took office in 2013, the country’s socialist economy has shrunk by three quarters — a collapse generally unheard of outside of wartime — and