Capture of Nicolás Maduro, US tech dominance, and new vaccination advice

Venezuelans celebrate in Santiago, Chile, on Saturday after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured and flown to the US. Keystone/Swissinfo

Welcome to our press review of events in the United States. Every Wednesday I look at how the Swiss media have reported and reacted to three major stories in the US – in politics, finance and science.

Venezuela’s strongman leader Nicolás Maduro was captured by the US armed forces in Caracas at the weekend and flown to New York. He has been indicted by US prosecutors on several counts, including narco-terrorism. Swiss newspapers were generally fine with the result – they see the removal of Maduro as positive for Venezuela – but they were less sure about the means.

Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrive at the Wall Street Heliport on January 5 during their transport to the federal courthouse in New York. Keystone

How significant is the overthrow of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in a US-led raid on Saturday? For Le Temps in Geneva it’s clear: it’s a “potentially dramatic turning point in the course of the world”.

“It’s not just the fate of this South American country that’s at stake, but entire global geopolitics,” Le Temps wrote in an editorial on Monday. “Donald Trump is plunging the US and the world into a new neo-colonial era, an era in which Russia and China will no longer have any qualms about defending their own spheres of influence, even if it means using force.”

What’s more, with Venezuela, Trump may just be getting started, the paper concluded ominously. “Who’s to say he won’t conquer Greenland, Cuba and Colombia tomorrow?”

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) noted that international law experts and American politicians were criticising the raid. Even some Republicans accused Trump of not having consulted Congress. “From a formal legal point of view, these accusations are probably correct. But from a moral point of view […], it has to be said that the benefits probably far outweigh the costs of the operation,” it wrote. However, “there’s work to be done for a return to democracy”.

Blick was also ambivalent. “The world is one dictator poorer. Nicolás Maduro ruled Venezuela brutally, corruptly and unscrupulously. In order to stay in power, he never shied away from violence against his own people. His removal […] is a liberation for many Venezuelans.” The coup in Caracas therefore looks like a success, it wrote, “but it has a bitter aftertaste. With his attack on Venezuelan military and government targets, Trump has shown what he thinks of international law and territorial integrity: nothing”.

For Blick, Trump’s military strike is “less about morality than power interests – it marks the return of US imperialism”.

Swiss public broadcaster SRF highlighted the economic interests in oil-rich Venezuela, but it said the strike had triggered a political crisis in Washington. “In terms of foreign policy, there’s the threat of an uncontrollable escalation. Domestically, Trump risks a massive loss of credibility as an ‘America First’ president who wanted to avoid military adventures. If the conflict drags on and US soldiers are injured, the pressure is likely to increase further.”

SRF reported that Democrats were accusing Trump of deliberately provoking the conflict in order to distract attention from domestic problems such as the rising cost of living or the Epstein Files. “What Trump presents as a step towards more order has triggered one thing above all else in Washington at the start of an important year with mid-term elections: political unrest.”

• ‘America First’ President Trump threatens loss of credibilityExternal link – SRF analysis (German)

• Capture of Nicolás Maduro: a dangerous world of spheres of influenceExternal link – Le Temps editorial (French)

• Return to US imperialismExternal link – Blick editorial (German)

• Good news for Venezuelans, but more is needed for a return to democracyExternal link – NZZ editorial (German, paywall)

• Trump marks his territory – things are getting serious for EuropeExternal link – Tages-Anzeiger editorial (German, paywall)

• Switzerland orders freezing of Maduro assets – Swissinfo

Examining new products at Apple Park in California in September 2025. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

The boom in artificial intelligence (AI) is fuelling US tech companies and pushing them to the top of the list of the world’s most valuable listed companies.

At the end of last year, chip manufacturer Nvidia, with a market capitalisation of over $4.5 trillion (CHF3.5 trillion), had overtaken long-time leader Apple, which had a market capitalisation of around $4 trillion. This is shown in a study by consulting firm EY.

According to the study, reported in the Tages-Anzeiger on Wednesday, as of December 31, 2025, Nvidia alone was worth almost twice as much as all 40 companies in Germany’s leading DAX index combined, which totalled $2.5 trillion. “Chip systems from Nvidia have become a key technology for software with AI, and the hyped company is regarded as a benchmark for the state of the AI sector,” the Tages-Anzeiger wrote.

The following places in the ranking are also occupied by US tech giants: Google parent company Alphabet takes third place with a market capitalisation of just under $3.8 trillion, ahead of Microsoft and Amazon.

“The year 2025 was dominated by artificial intelligence on the world’s stock markets,” said Henrik Ahlers, chair of the EY management board. “The euphoria surrounding new AI applications and business models has led to strong share price gains worldwide. However, the beneficiaries are mainly based in the US and Asia.”

American companies in particular continue to dominate the stock markets. According to EY, 60 of the 100 most valuable companies in the world are based in the United States. There are eight American companies in the top ten: only the oil company Saudi Aramco in eighth place and the Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC in tenth place break the dominance.

Switzerland has three companies in the top 100: Roche, Novartis and Nestlé.

• Apple is no longer the most expensive company in the worldExternal link – Tages-Anzeiger (German, paywall)

• Artificial intelligence in Switzerland: what’s new in 2026 – Swissinfo

The vaccination recommendation should only apply to “11 of the most serious and dangerous diseases”, Trump said. Keystone / Christian Beutler

On Monday the United States cut the number of vaccines it recommends for every child – a move that public health experts warn could lead to preventable hospitalisations and deaths.

“Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is known as a vaccination critic. US President Donald Trump’s government is now advising significantly fewer vaccinations for children than before,” the Tages-Anzeiger in Zurich reported on Tuesday.

The vaccination recommendation should only apply to “11 of the most serious and dangerous diseases”, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform on Monday. “Parents can still choose to give their children all of the vaccinations, if they wish, and they will still be covered by insurance”.

The Tages-Anzeiger said Trump had also posted a graphic “with unusual praise for Europe”: a European baby surrounded by 11 syringes and a sad-looking American baby surrounded by 72 syringes.

Swiss public broadcaster SRF said vaccinations that are now no longer generally recommended in the US include those for rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, RSV infections, meningococcal B and meningococcal ACWY.

SRF said the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had criticised the new, reduced vaccination recommendations as “dangerous and unnecessary”. “The United States is not Denmark, and there is no reason to impose the Danish immunisation schedule on America’s families,” the AAP said. The disease risks and healthcare systems of the two countries differed “significantly” from one another, it said.

• US vaccination news – SRFExternal link and 24 heuresExternal link (German, French)

• Orientation towards Europe: Trump administration cancels vaccination plan for childrenExternal link – Tages-Anzeiger (German, paywall)

• Updated childhood immunisation recommendationsExternal link – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The next edition of ‘Swiss views of US news’ will be published on Wednesday, January 14. See you then!

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