US launches strikes against Venezuela, captures President Maduro
The United States President Donald Trump said that the US has launched military strikes against Venezuela and deposed its long-serving autocratic President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday.
Trump made this known in a post on Truth Social saying: “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.”
Reports describe the hit on Venezuela as successful, with explosions rocking the capital Caracas and other places, leading to the end of the defiant government led by Maduro. The Venezuelan leader may now face drug trial in US.
The intervention could be considered the most direct in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama which led to the deposition of the military leader Manuel Noriega.
The Venezuelan Government has said that there were both civilian and military casualties in Saturday’s strikes, although no figures have yet been released.
The US had earlier accused Maduro of running a “narco-state” and rigging the 2024 election, which the opposition claimed it had won overwhelmingly.
Maduro, a 63-year-old former bus driver, was handpicked by the dying Hugo Chavez to succeed him in 2013. He had consequently denied the drug-trafficking accusations against him, claiming instead that the US was only interested in the country’s oil reserves.
The operation according to Trump was carried out “in conjunction with US Law Enforcement,” as the US President has promised more details in a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who might likely succeed Maduro, said she has no knowledge of the whereabouts of President Maduro or his wife.
Reports say Maduro was captured by elite special forces troops.
