In yet another unfortunate confirmation of the serious state of antisemitism, following the U.S. operation that led to Venezuela’s newly deposed Nicolás Maduro’s arrest by U.S. forces and transport to New York, Venezuelan officials, including Vice President Delcy Rodríguez (now acting president), have issued statements variously claiming that the operation had “Zionist undertones,” “Zionist fingerprints,” or was a “Zionist attack.”
Yet these claims were made without evidence and are apparently completely based on antisemitic conspiracy theories to deflect blame from internal issues and unrest, corruption, and the circumstances surrounding Maduro’s arrest.
In fact, the same scenario played out before the arrest for several months as Maduro officials tried to blame various iterations of “Zionism” for the challenges to the Maduro regime to distract from the government’s own failures and lack of domestic legitimacy.
It even went so far as Maduro claiming that during the 2024 Venezuelan election, “Zionists were working with dissidents to steal it,” and following Maduro’s being declared the winner by a Maduro-controlled election commission, despite available evidence documenting that his opponent had received twice as many votes as Maduro.
This conclusion also aligns with independent exit polling and similar analyses conducted by other organizations. However, the release of the election results was followed by widespread protests and growing international condemnation, with many government and international organizations criticizing the vote as fraudulent.
But true to form, Maduro blamed what he termed “the extremist right” for the unrest that swept the country. He accused these groups of being “supported by international Zionism.” He alleged that Jews were manipulating social networks, media outlets, and even satellite technology in an attempt to “steal the presidential election from his socialist government.”
The thing is that although, rationally, the claims of the Maduro crowd are a stretch, they have been seized upon by some world leaders and the antisemitic amen corner – even if it is fueled by animus toward President Trump. Antisemitism is alive and well and requires vigilance.