Trump: US Captured Maduro

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by US forces during a “large-scale” nighttime military operation early Saturday, President Trump announced.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“This operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement. Details to follow.”

Trump celebrated the mission in which Maduro and first lady were flown to the US, where the Venezuelan president is set to stand trial on criminal charges.

“A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” Trump told the New York Times. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”

Trump ordered airstrikes on military sites around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas with at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft reported in the region, which began around 2 a.m. local time amid heightened tensions between Maduro and the US.

The strikes rocked sites in the state of Miranda, where Caracas is located, and nearby Aragua and La Guiera, sending plumes of smoke and fire into the air and causing power outages.

Photos show a fire tearing through Fuerte (Fort) Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex located in Caracas, after an explosion.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who would take power under the country’s law, said she didn’t know the whereabouts of Maduro and Flores.

“We demand proof of life,” Rodriguez said.

Residents reacted to the ground-shaking explosions as they were walking the streets of the capital.

“The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes in the distance,” Carmen Hidalgo told the Associated Press. “We felt like the air was hitting us.”

The Federal Aviation Administration banned US commercial flights over Venezuela early Saturday because of “ongoing military activity.”

The US Embassy in Caracas advised Americans not to travel to Venezuela and urged those in the country to leave.

The Venezuelan government denounced the alleged attack as an aggression from the US and a violation of the United Nations charter.

“The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to forcibly break the nation’s political independence,” the government said in a statement. “They will not succeed. After more than two hundred years of independence, the people and their legitimate government remain steadfast in defense of sovereignty and the inalienable right to determine their own destiny.”

The Venezuelan government declared a state of emergency and “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented.”

“Today, with the spirit of Bolivar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise up once again to defend their independence against imperial aggression. People, take to the streets!” the government’s statement read.

In a video address that aired on Thursday, Maduro accused the US of wanting to force a government change in the South American country and access its oil reserves.

The 63-year-old Maduro, who has held power in Venezuela for 13 years, has been charged with narco-terrorism by the US. On Friday, Maduro met with a special envoy for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the presidential palace in Caracas to reaffirm ties with China amid tensions with the US.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed his neighboring country was “attacked” and called for a meeting between the Organization of American States and the United Nations.

“Right now they are bombing Caracas. Alert to the whole world, they have attacked Venezuela,” Petro wrote on X. “They are bombing with missiles. The OAS and the UN must meet immediately.”

Cuban officials called the strikes “criminal activity by the US.

“Our ‘Peace Zone’ is being brutally assaulted. State terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people and against Our America,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said. “Homeland or Death We Shall Overcome!”

On Friday, Maduro claimed his regime was “ready” to discuss an agreement with the US to prevent drug trafficking.

“The US government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we’re ready,” the left-wing authoritarian told Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet in a sitdown recorded on New Year’s Eve and broadcast on state TV Thursday.

The US military has carried out drone strikes off the Venezuelan coast on suspect drug smuggling boats.

Maduro’s call for talks comes a week after a CIA drone strike on a docking area believed to be used by cartels.

Venezuela had detained at least five Americans following the Trump administration’s latest military and economic pressure campaign.

One of the detainees, James Luckey-Lange, a Staten Island resident, claims he was wrongfully detained as he crossed the Venezuelan border on a long-trip across Latin America.