ABSOLUTE RESOLVE
The Raid That Seized Maduro and Redrew the Rules of Power in Venezuela
In the early hours of 3 January 2026, the world woke to an image few thought possible: Nicolás Maduro, ruler of Venezuela, in U.S. custody after a lightning operation deep inside Caracas.
But Absolute Resolve is more than the story of a raid.
It is the story of how a modern state was penetrated, how a protected ruler became a target, and how military force, intelligence, law, and political will were fused into one of the most controversial operations of the age.
From the hidden months of surveillance and rehearsal to the blackout-struck opening blows over Caracas, Gary Mitchell takes readers inside the anatomy of the mission: the hunt pattern, the mock-house planning, the tightening ring of aircraft and electronic warfare, the snatch itself, and the cold, rapid transfer from battlefield success to courtroom theatre.
Yet the real power of this book lies in what comes after.
Because removing a ruler is one thing. Repairing a country is another.
As Venezuela reels, Delcy Rodríguez steps into the vacuum, Washington reopens diplomatic channels, prisoners begin to walk free, and oil, law, and power are rearranged in real time. Was this justice? Strategy? Regime decapitation? Or the birth of a new American template for coercive power in the modern world?
Written in a tense, cinematic style but grounded in the public record, Absolute Resolve is a gripping work of contemporary narrative history that explores not only how the raid happened, but what it changed - and what it didn't.
For readers of Ben Macintyre, Damien Lewis, and high-stakes modern geopolitical history, this is the story of a mission that did not end when the target was taken.
It began there.
