Trump says Nicolas Maduro has been captured and flown out of Venezuela
Donald Trump has said the US has captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and flown him out of the country, after weeks of growing tensions between the two nations.
Trump confirmed the US has launched air strikes on Caracas earlier this morning, using black hawk helicopters and chinooks, following reports the capital had been hit by multiple explosives.
The president then broke the news that Maduro, alongside his wife, had been taken into custody and flown out of the country.
Videos posted on social media showed what appeared to be a series of strikes on Venezuela’s military complex Fuerte Tiuna in the west of Caracas, as well as an air base at La Carlota in the centre of the capital, while multiple areas suffered power outages.
“Brilliant operation”
In a post on social media platform Truth Social, Trump said: “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.”
He added that a news conference would take place at his private Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago at 11am EST, 4pm UK time.
In a phone interview with The New York Times, Trump hailed the plan to capture Maduro as a “brilliant operation”, involving “a lot of good planning” and “great, great troops and great people”.
However, he refused to confirm whether he had sought congressional authority, stating he would address that point in Mar-a-Lago.
Months of threats
The early morning bombing raid came after months of threats from Trump, who said he would take action if Venezuela did not stop drug-smuggling boats from heading towards the US, while Maduro was branded the head of a narco-terrorist state by the US State Department.
Since August, the US has been increasing pressure on Maduro’s regime, conducting operational military flights close to the border and bulking up naval forces presence, with the US military attacking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
According to the Trump administration, about three dozen boat strikes have taken place.
Just this week, Trump declared a “total blockade” on US sanctioned oil tankers heading to and from Venezuela, while on Thursday Maduro wanted to reach a deal with Trump.
Venezuelan government response
In the wake of the strikes, the Venezuelan government urged its supporters to take to the streets, stating strikes had taken place in Caracas, Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
It said: “The Bolivarian government calls on all the social and political forces of the country to activate the mobilisation plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”
The government added that Maduro had “ordered all national defence plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance”.
President Gustavo Petra, of neighbouring Colombia, said his country was watching with “deep concern” while Bruno Rodriguez, foreign minister of Cuba, “strongly condemned” the attacks as a “cowardly” act against a country that had not “attacked the US or any other nation”.