In early 2026, the US government praised the raid to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores as an effective and economical campaign. With only 60 special forces soldiers landing from helicopters in the capital Caracas under the support of the air force, the target was controlled and escorted to a US warship in just a few hours.
However, actual figures show a much more expensive financial picture. To maintain its overwhelming power in the Caribbean, the US has had to pay huge sums of money. During the peak period from mid-November 2025 to mid-January 2026, the operating costs of warships here have exceeded the threshold of 20 million USD per day.
From the end of the summer of 2025, dozens of naval ships along with fighters and unmanned aerial vehicles began to gather in a plan codenamed "Southern Spear". At the largest mobilization time, this force accounted for 20% of the entire surface fleet of the US Navy.
The Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group alone has spent about $11.4 million per day to maintain its presence with the escort fleet. Landing-ready groups including the USS Iwo Jima and Marine Corps units also cost an additional $8.59 million per day.
The total cost of the campaign is estimated to reach 2 billion USD as of August 2025. This figure only includes basic operating costs such as fuel and ammunition, not including the huge costs for intelligence or cyberspace support.
Although officials affirm that this cost is in the regular defense budget, experts are still concerned about indirect losses. The concentration of 1/5 of the fleet in the Caribbean has forced the US to withdraw forces from other strategic regions such as the Mediterranean and Europe amid escalating world tensions.
Currently, the super aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford has left the Caribbean for the Middle East, but the US military presence in Venezuela has not yet ended specifically. The US has announced that it will continue to control the situation until a suitable transfer of power is carried out in this country.
