President Donald Trump on Saturday said US forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after launching a “large-scale strike” on Caracas.
“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, around two hours after explosions rocked Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
There was no confirmation from Venezuela’s government of the fate of the leftist Maduro, in power since 2013. It sought a meeting of the UN Security Council to address the attack.
An escalation is possible after Colombian President Gustavo Petro ordered the deployment of military forces to the Venezuelan border.
Petro described Washington’s actions as an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America and said they would result in a humanitarian crisis.
While proposing that the situation could be resolved through “dialogue,” the leftist president said on X that he had also ordered the “deployment of the security forces” to the Venezuelan border.
His government accused the United States of an “extremely serious military aggression” which follows a months-long campaign of increasing military and economic pressure by Trump.
In a dramatic night of fast-moving events, Caracas was rocked by explosions, accompanied by the sound of helicopters, around 2 a.m. (0600 GMT or 2 p.m. Philippine time). The blasts continued for nearly an hour, AFP reporters said.
Trump said he would give a news conference at 11 a.m. (1600 GMT or midnight Philippine time) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he is on vacation.
‘Brilliant’ operation
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, Trump hailed the “brilliant” operation which involved “a lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops and great people.”
Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, situated in southern Caracas, and the Carlota airbase in the north were among the targets of the strikes. Flames and vast plumes of smoke were seen billowing from Fuerte Tiuna.
Blasts were also heard in La Guaira, north of the capital, where Caracas’ airport and port are located.
“I felt like (the explosions) lifted me out of bed, and I immediately thought, ‘God, the day has come,’ and I cried,” said María Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of La Guaira.
Venezuela’s reaction
“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 said.
The government said Maduro had declared a state of emergency, but the 63-year-old socialist was nowhere to be seen.
The defense ministry accused the United States of targeting residential areas and announced a “massive deployment” of its military resources.
As the strikes began in the dead of night, residents of Caracas rushed to their windows and terraces to try to make sense of events. Others hid in safe, windowless spaces, fearful of breaking glass.
Choppers dominate sky
Videos shared on social media showed helicopters silhouetted against the night sky. Power had been cut in certain parts of Caracas, according to residents.
Francis Pena, a 29-year-old communications professional living in eastern Caracas, told AFP he was sleeping when his girlfriend woke him and said, “They’re bombing.”
“I couldn’t see the explosions, but I heard the planes. We started to prepare a bag with the most important things — passport, cards, cash, candles, a change of clothes, canned food,” Pena said.
Trump, who deployed an aircraft carrier and warships to the Caribbean as part of what he initially presented as an anti-drug smuggling campaign, had repeatedly threatened strikes on Venezuelan soil.
On Monday, he said it would be “smart” for Maduro, whose 2024 reelection was widely dismissed by the international community as fraudulent, to step down.
He also said the United States had hit and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats.
Maduro on Thursday said that he was open to cooperating with Washington.
The Trump administration has accused Maduro of heading a drug cartel. The Venezuelan leader has denied any involvement in the narcotics trade, saying Washington was seeking to overthrow him because Venezuela has the largest known reserves of oil on earth.
In an apparent bid to force him out, Washington had informally closed Venezuela’s airspace, imposed more sanctions, and ordered the seizure of tankers loaded with Venezuelan oil.
US forces had also carried out numerous strikes on boats in both the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since September,
