WASHINGTON, JAN 3: President Donald Trump said Saturday that US forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a “large-scale strike” on the South American country.
“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 said on Truth Social.
Trump said he would give a news conference at 11:00am (1600 GMT) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
The US had accused Maduro of running a “narco-state” and rigging last year’s election, which the opposition said it won overwhelmingly. The Venezuelan leader, who succeeded Hugo Chavez to take power in 2013, has said Washington wants to take control of Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world.
The United States has completed its military action in Venezuela after capturing leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, a US senator said Saturday, quoting Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“He anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in US custody,” Senator Mike Lee, a Republican initially critical of the operation, wrote on X after what he said was a telephone call with Rubio.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan vice president says govt does not know the whereabouts of Maduro or First Lady Cilia Flores.
The Venezuelan government said attacks also took place in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, prompting Maduro to declare a national emergency and mobilise defence forces.
Earlier, US media outlets, including Fox News and CBS News, reported that the United States was conducting military strikes on the Caribbean country, in a dramatic escalation that Venezuelans had feared for weeks.
The blasts, accompanied by the sound of planes flying over the city, were heard around 2:00am (0600 GMT) Saturday, an AFP journalist said.
Explosions were also heard in La Guaira, north of the capital, where Caracas’s airport and port are located.
“Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and people,” the government of leftist President Nicolas Maduro said.
Trump administration officials are aware of reports of explosions and aircraft over Venezuela’s capital Caracas early on Saturday morning, CBS reporter Jennifer Jacobs posted on X.
Maduro has accused the Trump administration of seeking a change in government to gain access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
“At this moment they are bombing Caracas”, Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted on X. “Alert everyone — they have attacked Venezuela. They are bombing with missiles. The (Organisation of American States) and the UN must meet immediately.”
Petro, who did not provide further information or indicate the source of his assertions, has repeatedly expressed opposition to the US pressure campaign.
The US has made a major military buildup in the region, including an aircraft carrier, warships and advanced fighter jets stationed in the Caribbean.
Trump has announced a “blockade” of Venezuelan oil, expanded sanctions and staged more than two dozen strikes on vessels the US alleges were involved in trafficking drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.
Last week, Trump said the United States had “hit” an area in Venezuela where boats are loaded with drugs, marking the first known time Washington has carried out land operations in Venezuela since the pressure campaign began.
He did not say whether those strikes were carried out by the CIA or not. Other media outlets have reported that the spy agency was behind them.
Trump has accused the South American country of flooding the US with drugs, and his administration has for months been bombing boats originating in South America that it alleges were carrying drugs.
Many nations have condemned the attacks as extrajudicial killings and Maduro’s government has always denied any involvement with drug trafficking.
