The United States carried out a large-scale military operation against Venezuela early Saturday, capturing President Nicolás Maduro, U.S. President Donald Trump said, marking the most direct American intervention in the country in decades.
Trump announced the development on his Truth Social platform shortly after explosions were reported across Caracas and nearby regions. He said U.S. forces, working with federal law enforcement, had detained Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flown them out of Venezuela.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that Maduro and Flores had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation. Bondi described the couple as alleged international narcotics traffickers and said they would face trial in the United States.
Explosions and heavy aircraft activity were reported overnight in the Venezuelan capital, with witnesses describing blackouts, plumes of smoke and fires near key military and transport facilities, including the Fort Tiuna military complex and La Carlota airport. Media outlets reported at least seven explosions, while residents said the blasts shook buildings across several neighbourhoods.
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the government did not know the whereabouts of Maduro or the first lady and demanded proof of life from Washington. The Venezuelan government condemned what it called a “grave military aggression,” accusing the United States of attacking Caracas as well as the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, and alleging the operation was aimed at seizing Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources.
Venezuela has requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council in response to the strikes. Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López said the country would resist any foreign military presence and ordered a nationwide deployment of forces.
Analysts compared the reported capture of Maduro to the U.S. operation that led to the arrest of Panama’s Manuel Noriega in 1989, describing the move as unprecedented in modern Latin American politics. International reaction was swift, with Russia and Iran condemning the strikes as violations of Venezuela’s sovereignty and the UN Charter.
The operation follows weeks of escalating tensions, during which Trump repeatedly accused Maduro of leading a drug trafficking network and threatened military action. The United States has long sought Maduro’s arrest, offering a bounty that rose to $50 million last year after designating the alleged Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization.
Venezuela has rejected the accusations, with Maduro previously saying Washington was seeking to overthrow his government through sanctions and military pressure. The situation remains fluid, with both governments issuing sharply conflicting accounts as developments continue to unfold.
