Donald Trump confirmed that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country along with his wife, Cilla Flores.
He added the US carried out a “large scale strike” against Venezuela in the early hours of the morning.
Trump said on Truth Social: “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.
“This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow. There will be a News Conference today (Saturday) at 11 A.M., at Mar-a-Lago. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Maduro has been Venezuela’s president since 2013, taking over after Hugo Chavez, the populist left-wing president and Maduro’s mentor, died.
Maduro started his working life as a bus driver, then became a union leader and later served as Chavez’s foreign minister and vice-president.
Maduro never matched the popularity of Chavez, who was charismatic with a natural common touch.
Venezuela’s economy collapsed under Maduro after years of Chavez’s economic mismanagement, including price controls and handouts that drained the state’s oil-dependent funds.
When oil prices fell in the 2010s, food and medicine imports became unaffordable. Money printing caused hyperinflation, rendering the currency worthless. Corruption and international sanctions increased the pressure.
Maduro responded with repressions to dissatisfaction. He has brutally cracked down on repeated mass protests and was accused of rigging the 2018 and 2024 elections;
More than a quarter of the population – some eight million people – have immigrated.
Chavez’s and Maduro’s hard-left ‘Bolivarian revolution’ ideology rejects American capitalism and hegemony and brands the US an imperialist power.
The US criticises Maduro’s political repression and denies his legitimacy after election manipulation accusations in 2018 and 2024. It recognised the opposition candidates as legitimate president-elects.
US governments have long accused Venezuela of failing to cooperate with anti-drug efforts over domestic criminal groups.
Trump has gone further. He blamed Maduro for Venezuelan immigration to the US, accused him of stealing US oil as the country nationalised its industry from 1976. He has alleged that he is himself a cartel leader. Maduro denies this.
Iran condemned the US, accusing it of carrying out strikes in Venezuela this morning.
The Iranian foreign ministry say the strike is “a blatant violation of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
It also calls on the UN Security Council to “act immediately to halt the unlawful aggression” and hold those responsible accountable.
US citizens were warned not to travel to Venezuela, and those in the country have been told to shelter in place.
The American embassy in Bogota, Columbia, notes that Venezuela has been under the highest travel advisory level since 3 December.
This was due to “severe risks to Americans, including wrongful detention, torture in detention, terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary enforcement of local laws, crime, civil unrest, and poor health infrastructure”.
The Venezuelan government’s angry response to what they are calling US attacks on the country – and the immediate imposition of a state of emergency – are hardly surprising.
Details of the events overnight in Caracas are scarce, but videos on social media are circulating showing explosions around the capital and the sound of aircraft in the air.
President Trump has been warning for months that land attacks on Venezuela were imminent.
He has amassed an armada of ships and American firepower in the Caribbean, and indeed, a third of the United States Navy is now stationed off the coast of Venezuela.
The US has carried out multiple attacks on small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, claiming they were smuggling drugs.
The Trump administration designated Venezuela’s nominal president, Nicolas Maduro, a narco terrorist, with his government operating as a drug cartel who stole elections last year to stay in power. Pressure has been steadily mounting on Maduro to stand down.
What started as ostensibly a drug operation has steadily morphed into an operation to stop Venezuela exporting oil – a tanker was boarded by American forces in December and taken to the United States, and President Trump has announced a blockade on Venezuelan oil.
Opposition leaders, notably Maria Corina Machado, the latest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, have been saying for months that the opposition is ready to take power and have been preparing in secret for months.
For change like this to happen, Maduro would have to leave, and the Venezuelan security forces would have to accept those changes.
That is far from guaranteed, but perhaps these US strikes overnight in Venezuela are designed to put pressure on them to do exactly that.
By Agencies
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