I don't know if I would go so far as to say this is a lose-lose for the empire. Except that everything is lose-lose in a long enough time horizon.

First off, the ability to test systems and tactics against Venezuela's defenses was valuable in its own right. Made more valuable by the fact that many of those systems are from larger adversaries of the US. That provides lots of valuable intelligence.

Second, the shock and awe factor is very valuable. A public execution of Maduro is definitely in the cards and doing so would ramp up the shock and awe. It will cause lots of reactions, lots of movement. A lot of that movement will be opportunity for the US to act again. Get one more shock and awe event out of that, and it would be very valuable.

Third, it shakes the relationship tree and reveals the ride-or-die allies versus the mere sycophants. It tightens the circle, it creates bonds of allegiance, and it allows the empire to do more terrible things faster.