WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. struck Venezuela overnight and captured its long-serving President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump said early on Saturday after months of pressuring him over accusations of drug-running and illegitimacy in power.
Washington has not made such a direct intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega, over similar allegations.
“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 in a Truth Social post.
The U.S. 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.
VENEZUELA MINISTER URGES RESISTANCE
Trump said the operation was carried out “in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement” and promised more details at an 11 a.m. (1600 GMT) press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Maduro was captured by elite special forces troops, a U.S. official told Reuters.
There was no immediate confirmation by the Venezuelan government of Maduro’s capture or departure, but Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino was defiant.
“Free, independent and sovereign Venezuela rejects with all the strength of its libertarian history the presence of these foreign troops, which have only left behind death, pain and destruction,” Padrino said in a video broadcast on state media about the same time that Trump posted his message.
“Today we clench our fist in defense of what is ours. Let us unite, for in the unity of the people we will find the strength to resist and to triumph.”
While various Latin American governments oppose Maduro and say he stole the 2024 election, direct U.S. action revives painful memories of past interventions and is generally strongly opposed by governments and populations in the region.
The Venezuelan opposition, headed by recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, said in a statement on X that it had no official comment on the events.
In the early hours on Saturday, explosions rocked Venezuela’s capital Caracas and elsewhere, prompting Maduro’s government to declare a national emergency and mobilize troops. It said attacks also took place in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
Blasts, aircraft and black smoke could be seen across Caracas from about 2 a.m. (0600 GMT) for roughly 90 minutes, according to Reuters witnesses and images circulating on social media.
VENEZUELANS SHOCKED – ‘WE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING’
Residents expressed shock and fear as they captured video of billowing smoke and bright orange flashes in the sky. “My love, oh no, look at that,” said one woman in a video, gasping at blasts in the distance.
Carmen Marquez, 50, a resident of the eastern part of the capital, said she went to her roof and could hear planes at different altitudes, though she could not see them.
“Flare-like lights were crossing the sky and then explosions could be heard. We’re worried about what’s coming next. We don’t know anything from the government, only what the state television says,” she said.
A power outage affected the southern area of Caracas, near a major military base, witnesses said. A local media outlet allied with the ruling socialist party said explosions had taken place near the Fuerte Tiuna and La Carlota military bases.
Venezuelan allies Cuba and Iran were quick to condemn the strikes. Tehran called it “a blatant violation of national sovereignty and territorial integrity” and urged the U.N. Security Council to intervene to stop the “unlawful aggression.”
The U.S., Venezuela’s opposition and various other nations say Maduro rigged an election last year to stay in power. He has said there is a Western conspiracy to oust him illegally.
Trump had repeatedly promised land operations in the South American oil producer and said on Monday it would be “smart” for Maduro to leave power.
The Venezuelan government, in a statement before Trump’s announcement, said the goal of the attack was for the United States to take possession of the country’s oil and minerals.
The U.S. has made a major military buildup in the region, including an aircraft carrier, warships and advanced fighter jets stationed in the Caribbean.
Trump has sought a “blockade” of Venezuelan oil, expanded sanctions against the Maduro government and staged more than two dozen strikes on vessels the U.S. 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.
Trump has accused Venezuela of flooding the U.S. 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.
It was unclear under what legal authority the latest U.S. strikes were carried out. Legal experts have raised questions about the legality of the hits on suspected drug vessels in the region, which have killed more than 110 people so far.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by William Mallard)
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