SRINAGAR: The United States has carried out a large-scale military operation against Venezuela, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flying them out of the country to face criminal charges in New York, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday. The operation marks a dramatic escalation in Washington’s long-running confrontation with the left-wing Venezuelan leader.
According to President Trump, US forces conducted coordinated air and ground strikes across Venezuela in the early hours of Saturday before seizing Maduro from a heavily guarded residence in Caracas. Speaking on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the United States had “successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela” and that Maduro and his wife had been captured and removed from the country in an operation carried out in conjunction with US law enforcement agencies. He later described the raid as a “brilliant operation” in a brief telephone interview with The New York Times.
Explosions were reported across Caracas around 02:00 local time, with plumes of smoke seen rising over the city and helicopters flying overhead, according to eyewitness accounts and videos circulating on social media. The Venezuelan government said military bases and civilian areas in Caracas, as well as the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, were hit. The scale of casualties remains unclear, with Venezuelan authorities saying they are compiling information on those killed or injured. These details were reported by the BBC and echoed by USA Today.
US officials and media reports said the raid to capture Maduro was led by the US Army’s elite Delta Force. Citing US officials, CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner, reported that the counter-terrorism unit carried out the operation after months of planning, supported by intelligence from a human source inside the Venezuelan government. President Trump told Fox News that US forces were prepared to breach steel-reinforced areas of Maduro’s residence but encountered less resistance than anticipated. He said no US troops were killed, though several were injured when a helicopter was hit during the operation, a claim also reported by USA Today and The New York Times.
Trump said Maduro and Flores were first taken to a US warship, the USS Iwo Jima, in the Caribbean and were en route to New York, where they would face prosecution. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the couple had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess such weapons against the United States. “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil,” Bondi wrote on X, according to the BBC, USA Today and The Guardian.
The Venezuelan government responded by declaring a national emergency, deploying armed forces across the country and demanding “immediate proof of life” for Maduro and Flores. Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez said the government did not know their whereabouts, while Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López accused the United States of carrying out strikes on civilian areas and vowed that Venezuela would “resist” the presence of foreign troops. In an official statement, the government denounced what it called “extremely serious military aggression” by the US and accused Washington of attempting to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly oil and minerals, reports the BBC.
International reaction to the operation was swift and sharply divided. Russia condemned the strikes as an “act of armed aggression”, while China said it was “deeply shocked” by the use of force against a sovereign country. Iran described the attack as a “flagrant violation” of Venezuela’s sovereignty. Several Latin American leaders, including Colombia’s Gustavo Petro and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, criticised the operation as an assault on regional sovereignty and international law, according to the BBC.
At the United Nations, Secretary General António Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” by the strikes, warning that they set a dangerous precedent and urging all parties to respect international law and human rights. The European Union reiterated its position that Maduro lacks democratic legitimacy but stressed that any transition of power must be peaceful, the BBC reported.
Within the United States, the operation triggered a polarised political response. Republican leaders praised the capture of Maduro as the enforcement of long-standing US indictments, while several Democratic lawmakers accused the Trump administration of bypassing Congress and risking a wider conflict. The Guardian reported that some Democrats warned the action could amount to an illegal war and undermine US credibility abroad.
Maduro, who has been in power since 2013 and succeeded Hugo Chávez, has long been accused by Washington of drug trafficking and corruption, allegations he has repeatedly denied. The US had previously offered a $50 million reward for information leading to his arrest. The latest operation follows months of US military activity in the Caribbean, including strikes on vessels Washington says were involved in drug trafficking and the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers, as detailed by the BBC, USA Today and The New York Times.
President Trump said he would outline further details of the operation at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence later on Saturday, as the international community continues to assess the implications of one of the most significant US military actions in Latin America in decades.
