The prime minister won't celebrate it on moral grounds, but won't condemn it either

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The reaction to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro roughly falls into two camps: those who celebrate the downfall of a corrupt narco-terrorist and those who condemn it as a suspected breach of international law.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney chose a third option, a wishy-washy, bland statement that neither praised the detention on moral grounds nor criticized it on the basis it might be illegal.

The man who wrote the book on values appears to have difficulty sometimes in stating what those values are.

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Such was Carney’s reluctance to take a stand on the issue that his statement on X at the weekend about the dramatic seizure of Maduro by U.S. special forces inside Venezuela didn’t even mention the event.

“One of the first actions taken by Canada’s new government in March 2025 was to impose additional sanctions on Nicolás Maduro’s brutally oppressive and criminal regime — unequivocally condemning his grave breaches of international peace and security, gross and systematic human rights violations, and corruption. Canada has not recognized the illegitimate regime of Maduro since it stole the 2018 election,” Carney