The New Year is already off to a busy start. We’re bringing you our coverage and analysis of the capture of the Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, including:

• Does it violate international law?
• Who’s in charge of Venezuela now?
• J. D. Vance’s notable absence from the operation

Watching Donald Trump’s press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, in which he said that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela and seize some of the country’s oil wealth “in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country,” my mind went back to 2003. In the immediate aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, I spent several weeks travelling around the country’s oil fields, some of which were still littered with live ordnance, speaking with members of the U.S.-led Task Force Rio—the “Rio” stood for “Restore Iraqi Oil”—and local workers. I also went to Baghdad, where I interviewed officials from the Iraqi oil ministry.

Venezuela isn’t Iraq, of course, and so far, at least, there hasn’t been a U.S. occupation. (Although Trump remarked, “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”) Nonetheless, this is the second time in twenty-three years that the United States has deposed the authoritarian leader of an oil-rich nation—the third if you count the NATO strikes on Libya in 2011, which hastened the fall of Muammar Qaddafi. History has some lessons to offer.

• The capture of Nicolás Maduro raised myriad questions about the operation and the future of Venezuela. Jon Lee Anderson explored what might come next for the country. Anderson also joined the Political Scene podcast to discuss how far Trump is willing to go in Venezuela and in the broader region.

• Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s loyal Vice-President, is now the interim President of Venezuela. Jonathan Blitzer argues that she faces the challenge of appeasing both the Trump Administration and what’s left of Maduro’s regime.

• Maduro appeared in court yesterday for his arraignment. Cristian Farias, who was there, reflects on the dramatic proceedings.

• J. D. Vance was not there when Trump decided to authorize the arrest of Maduro nor was he at the press conference the Administration held the next day. Benjamin Wallace-Wells examines the Vice-President’s conspicuous absence.

• Did Trump just violate international law? One scholar told Isaac Chotiner she thought the attack “was clearly illegal.” Chotiner also spoke to an expert on Venezuelan politics about why Maduro was so unpopular and what Trump really wants to see happen now.

• Zohran Mamdani is now the mayor of New York City. Molly Fischer explores what he and Michael Bloomberg have in common.

• Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to protest the results of the 2020 election, five years ago today. Revisit Luke Mogelson’s chronicle of the attack.

P.S. In other news, CBS Evening News has a new anchor: Tony Dokoupil. He was reportedly handpicked by Bari Weiss, the new editor-in-chief of CBS News. And he most definitely started the job during a big week for news.