UPDATE 12:30 PM: President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until a new government is installed by Washington. He threatened to conduct a second and “much larger” attack on Venezuela if Caracas resists Trump’s regime change.
The US conducted airstrikes in Caracas and captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Maduro is being brought to the US to face charges of drug trafficking.
“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,” President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social early Saturday morning. He wrote that a press conference will be held later in the day to provide more details.
The US first charged Maduro with drug trafficking in 2020. Since President Trump returned to office, the US has increased pressure on Maduro by naming him the leader of a narco-terrorist cartel and offering a $50 million bounty for his capture.
However, Washington has offered many allegations but little public evidence of Maduro’s supposed role in the group, and the often-repeated claims about senior officials are likely overstated.
Instead, the so-called ‘cartel’ appears to operate more like a loose-knit partnership of corrupt mid-level officials, opportunistic soldiers, and organized criminals—an arrangement tolerated and overseen, but not orchestrated, by the central government in Caracas.
Senator Mike Lee wrote on X that Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed him that “Maduro has been arrested by US personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant.”
Lee claimed that because the US forces invaded Caracas to capture Maduro, Trump had the authority to strike Venezuela under “Article II of the Constitution to protect US personnel from an actual or imminent attack.”
A US official told the New York Times that there were no American casualties during the operation.
Following the attack, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the government was unable to locate Maduro and his wife. She demanded that the US provide “proof of life.” Rodriguez added that both Venezuelan civilians and military personnel were killed in the US strikes.
“The first thing President Maduro told the people of Venezuela was ‘people to the streets,’ activated as militia, activating all the Nation’s comprehensive defense plans,” the vice president said. “No one will undermine the historic legacy of our Liberator father, Simon Bolivar. The people of Venezuela, in perfect national unity, must mobilize to defend their natural resources and what is most sacred: their right to independence and to the future.”
Russia quickly condemned the American attack and restarted its support for the Venezuelan government. Earlier today, the United States carried out an act of armed aggression against Venezuela. This has prompted deep concern and condemnation,” A statement from the Foreign Ministry said. “We reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and our support for the course of its Bolivarian leadership, aimed at protecting the country’s national interests and sovereignty.”
