Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife arrived in New York on Saturday evening to face several criminal charges after the United States conducted a large-scale operation in Caracas that captured the couple.
Following the operation, President Donald Trump said the United States will “run” Venezuela but did not provide details on how his administration plans to do that.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. “It has to be judicious, because that’s what we are all about.”
Although Trump said that his administration is determining who will be in charge of the country, the Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered on Jan. 3 that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assume the role of acting president of the country in the absence of Nicolás Maduro.
The United States carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela overnight, Trump announced in a Truth Social post in the early hours of Saturday. Congress was not notified ahead of the strikes due to concerns that lawmakers would “leak,” the president said. Some Democrats have criticized the president’s actions, with some calling it an “unjustified war.”
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken to New York, where they have been indicted on federal drug and weapons charges and “will soon face the full wrath of American justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
Venezuela’s government declared a state of emergency and denounced what it called “extremely serious military aggression” by the U.S.
Follow along for the latest updates below.
In the first clear video of the Venezuelan leader since he arrived on U.S. soil Saturday evening, Maduro is shown being walked down a hallway by federal agents.
The 12-second clip was posted to X by Fox News Contributor Paul Mauro and shared by the White House. In the post, which said “perp walked,” Maduro is clutching a bottle of water and dressed in black pants, a black hoodie and hat.
His hands appear to be restrained, while three agents walk him down a hallway with a carpet that reads “DEA.” He is overheard saying, “goodnight” and “happy New Year” before walking out of the video frame.
-Kathryn Palmer
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Saturday the restrictions around the Caribbean airspace would expire at midnight ET and flights could resume. Airlines were informed and will update their schedules quickly, Duffy posted on X.
The post comes after major airlines had canceled hundreds of flights on Jan. 3 following the U.S. military operation in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife.
American Airlines, Delta, United AirLines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways had begun cancelling flights early on Saturday morning in compliance with Federal Aviation Administration airspace closures in the Caribbean. Several European and South American airlines had also canceled flights.
The FAA closed the airspace to U.S. carriers “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity,” the agency said in a notice to airmen.
Over 300 flights originating and arriving to Puerto Rico were canceled as of midday on Jan. 3, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Several U.S. airlines rolled out fee waivers and flexible rebooking options as airspace restrictions disrupted flights to and from Puerto Rico and other Caribbean destinations.
− Josh Rivera, USA TODAY; Reuters
Venezuelan American Miriam Hidalgo, 66, woke up at 3 a.m. to a phone call she’s waited decades to receive.
Her brother, calling from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, told her that President Nicolás Maduro had been taken into custody, according to reports circulating in the country amid overnight explosions in the country’s capital, Caracas.
“I’ve been waiting for this for so many years,” Hidalgo told The Palm Beach Post near Mar-a-Lago, where she joined other supporters celebrating what they believe is a turning point for Venezuela. “After 30 years living in this country, to see the government doing something so wonderful, it makes me so happy.”
Edgar Rodriguez got his call about the operation in Caracas two hours before Hildago. He stood in a sea of Venezuela’s colors — red, blue and yellow — outside the El Arepazo restaurant in Doral, Florida.
“It’s 26 years of a nightmare,” Rodriguez, a coordinator for Vente Venezuela, the political party many say ousted Maduro from the presidency in the 2024 election. “So many innocent people have died. There are so many tortured political prisoners and families separated by people being forced to flee the country.”
“Today is the day of freedom,” Rodriguez added. “Today, that nightmare finally comes to an end.”
− Valentina Palm, Antonio Fins and Hannah Phillips, USA TODAY Network
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, landed in the United States on Saturday to face federal drug and weapons charges, hours after a dramatic raid on the couple’s Caracas home by U.S. special forces and transportation over sea and air to New York, according to reports.
A plane carrying Maduro landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, according to CNN and MS NOW.
Maduro faces charges of “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
–Kathryn Palmer
About 30 protesters were standing in the frigid cold outside Stewart Air National Guard, holding signs and chanting as they awaited Maduro’s arrival. Many were members of the Mid-Hudson chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and they had started their rally around 1 p.m. ET.
They were still there when the plane carrying Maduro passed over their heads at roughly 4:30 p.m. ET and landed within sight on a Stewart runway.
“No war on Venezuela,” “No more bombs,” and “No illegal war” were some of the messages they displayed to a steady steam of passing drivers, as speakers took turn leading protest chants with a bullhorn.
“Venezuela is a country with over 30 million people,” Daniel Atonna, a Poughkeepsie city councilman and DSA member who took part in the protest, told the USA TODAY network. “Trump has unilaterally declared war on them by bombing their capital and kidnapping their president. He’s done this without the consent of Congress or the American people.“
Some drivers honked and waved in support as they passed in the slow-moving traffic One man flashed his middle finger. A lone counter-protester stood across the busy road from the protest, heckling and taking pictures.
–Chris McKenna, USA TODAY Network
GOP Sen. Susan Collins, the head of the Appropriations Committee, said Congress should have been notified about the military operation in Venezuela earlier and should be involved “as this situation evolves.”
Collins of Maine said Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed her Saturday morning. She said “the mission appears to have been a limited scope operation” in conjunction with law enforcement to apprehend an alleged narco-terrorist and international drug trafficker.
“Congress should have been informed about the operation earlier and needs to be involved as this situation evolves,” Collins said in a statement. “The long-term success of today’s operation will depend on our ability to work with international and private sector partners.”
–Bart Jansen
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez launched a national defense council with all of the current members of the country’s cabinet after Maduro’s capture on Saturday.
Although Rodriguez denounced the Trump administration’s “kidnapping” of Maduro saying Venezuela will never be a colony of any nation, Rodríguez signaled an openness to dialogue with the United States.
“There is a government here with a clear vision,” Rodríguez said on state television from Caracas. “I repeat and reiterate our president’s words: We are ready for respectful relations. We are ready for relations within the framework of international law and the laws of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
Trump during his press conference earlier Saturday said Rubio had a conversation with Rodríguez, who Maduro picked as his vice president in 2018.
“She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.
Democratic leaders of the Senate and House called Trump’s plan to run Venezuela “unacceptable” and said the administration should brief congressional leaders about the military action in Venezuela immediately and the rest of Congress next week.
“President Trump’s announced plan to run Venezuela is unacceptable,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, said in a joint statement. “It is critical that the Trump administration provide an immediate Gang of Eight briefing, followed by briefings for all Members of the House and Senate early next week.”
–Bart Jansen
Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican who has announced he won’t seek reelection this year, said he worried the U.S. attack on Venezuela will be used to defend Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Bacon, a former brigadier general in the Air Force, said the military action was great for Venezuela, after Maduro’s rule.
“My main concern now is that Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan,” Bacon said on social media. “Freedom and rule of law were defended last night, but dictators will try to exploit this to rationalize their selfish objectives.”
–Bart Jansen
Nicolás Maduro’s son Nicolás Maduro (Jr.) Guerra, 35, is listed in the indictment charging the Venezuelan leader with narco-terrorism. A member of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Guerra is also known as “Nicolasito” or “The Prince,” according to the court filing.
Born to his father’s first wife, Adriana Guerra Angulo in 1990, Guerra began assisting in drug operations as early as 2014, according to the indictment. A deputy in his father’s government, Guerra has been seen by many as a successor of the Chávismo movement, the socialistic ideology established by Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chávez.
The indictment, signed by Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, describes Guerra’s involvement in a drug operation starting in 2014 during which his plane “would be loaded, sometimes with the assistance of armed sergeants, with large packages wrapped in tape that the captain understood were drugs.” Guerra helped ship “hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela to Miami” in 2017,” the court filing says.
About 2020, Guerra met with two representatives of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) in Medellin, Colombia to discuss “arrangements to move large quantities of cocaine and weapons through Colombia and into the United States over the course of the next six years,” the filing says.
−Mike Snider
A couple of House Republicans who have become vocal critics of Trump objected to the military operation.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, questioned on social media the constitutionality of the military action. He also noted the indictment against Maduro didn’t mention fentanyl or stolen oil that Trump has previously cited in complaints against Venezuela.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, who earlier resigned effective Jan. 5, said if Trump were interested prosecuting narco-terrorists, he wouldn’t have pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was serving a 45-year prison term for cocaine trafficking.
Greene suggested controlling Venezuela’s oil could be a step toward pursuing regime change in Iran.
“The next obvious observation is that by removing Maduro this is a clear move for control over Venezuelan oil supplies that will ensure stability for the next obvious regime change war in Iran,” Greene said on social media.
Trump said while justifying the attack on Venezuela that Hernandez was prosecuted “very unfairly.”
–Bart Jansen
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the American military actions in Venezuela as “regime change” violating international and federal law. Mamdani, a democratic socialist who took office Jan. 1, said he was briefed on the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and their transfer to federal custody in New York.
“Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law,” Mamdani said in a statement. “This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home.”
Mamdani previously stopped short of calling Maduro a dictator, saying he hadn’t thought about the issue, but said his government was repressive. Later, Mamdani reportedly called Maduro and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel dictators, and also said “punitive” U.S. policies had worsened conditions in their countries.
New York received large numbers of Venezuelan migrants seeking asylum during the Biden administration.
Mamdani later told reporters he had called Trump and spoke with him directly to express his opposition to American military actions in Venezuela.
−Eduardo Cuevas
Gen. Dan Caine, an Air Force general who serves as Trump’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recounted a timeline of the raid.
Although the military assets for the mission were in place in December, according to the four-star general, the attack was delayed until the weather “broke just enough” and in order to “minimize the potential for civilian harm and maximize the element of surprise and minimize the harm” to Maduro.
Trump gave the go-ahead order at 10:46 p.m. ET, Caine said. (Caracas is one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time.)
The raid involved aircraft and troops from 20 different bases “across the Western Hemisphere,” according to Caine.
Caine indicated that intelligence and cyber forces helped deactivate Venezuela’s air defenses, some of which were also targeted by airstrikes.
The assault force, which CBS News reported was led by the Army’s elite Delta Force and included law enforcement personnel, landed at Maduro’s compound via helicopter at 1:01 a.m. ET.
The mission’s helicopters “came under fire” from Venezuelan defenders, Caine said, and attack helicopters accompanying the force returned fire and destroyed targets in the area.
The raid force captured Maduro and his wife while they were trying to flee to a safe room in the compound, Trump said in a phone interview with “Fox & Friends” earlier Saturday morning.
Caine indicated that U.S. forces were also shot at while leaving Venezuelan airspace. An unknown number of U.S. troops were injured during the mission, Reuters previously reported.
–Davis Winkie
Trump called Cuba a “failing nation” and similar to Venezuela because the U.S. “wants to help the people in Cuba, but we want to also help the people that were forced out of Cuba and living in this country.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Cuba a “disaster” and said it “took over” Venezuela. Venezuelans “have to declare independence from Cuba,” Rubio said.
Venezuelan oil plays a major role in economically supporting Cuba, which has been economically hobbled by decades of heavy U.S. sanctions.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Trump said he didn’t notify Congress of the military actions in Venezuela because lawmakers “will leak, and we don’t want leakers.”
“Congress has a tendency to leak,” Trump said. “This would not be good.”
Trump said there was danger of any advanced warning of military strikes, but added Venezuelan officials knew the American military was coming.
Moments earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration didn’t tell Congress because it was a “trigger-based mission” in which conditions had to be met each night. “It’s just not the mission you can pre-notify because it endangers the mission,” Rubio said.
Rubio also pointed to the indictment against Maduro by the Department of Justice, and the military supported the Justice Department in his arrest.
On Jan. 3, Democratic and Republican lawmakers both said they weren’t notified in advance.
−Eduardo Cuevas
Trump indicated that the administration had not spoken to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado about leading the country and argued that she does not have the internal support.
Trump said it would be “very tough” for Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, to lead the country.
“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the county,” Trump said at a news conference.
−Francesca Chambers
President Donald Trump said Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is “old” and “rotted.” Much of it is “stuff we put there 20 years ago,” he said, apparently referencing Venezuela’s nationalization of its oil industry in 1976.
“We’re going to be replacing it, and we’re going to take a lot of money out so we can take care of the country,” Trump said.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Trump said his message to Venezuelans is that they are going to have “potentially a great country” after the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro and strikes around the country.
“You’re going to have peace, justice, you’re going to have some of the riches that you should’ve had for a long period of time that was stolen from you,” Trump said.
−Jeanine Santucci
Asked whether U.S. military troops will remain in Venezuela as part of the United States “running” the country, President Donald Trump said “we’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”
“We’re going to make sure that country is run properly. We’re not doing this in vain,” Trump said.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces “remain in the region at a high state of readiness.”
−Jeanine Santucci
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking at the president’s news conference, said Maduro had plenty of warnings, and could have left the county.
“But instead he wanted to play big boy,” Rubio said.
−Francesca Chambers
During the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, one U.S. aircraft was hit but “remained flyable” for the rest of the mission, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Jan. 3 news conference at Mar-a-Lago.
U.S. troops faced “multiple self-defense engagements as the force began to withdraw from Venezuela,” Caine said.
President Donald Trump said that “not a single” U.S. servicemember was killed, and “not a single” piece of equipment was lost during the operation.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described the complex raid, characterizing it as “an audacious operation that only the United States could do.”
The Air Force general emphasized the amount of planning that went into the mission to capture Maduro, noting that it required coordination between all branches of the military and intelligence agencies including the CIA, National Security Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
“The word integration does not explain the sheer complexity of such a mission, an extraction so precise it involved more than 150 aircraft launching across the Western Hemisphere in close coordination,” Caine said. “Failure of one component of this well-oiled machine would have endangered the entire mission, and failure is never an option for America’s joint force.”
–Davis Winkie
President Donald Trump said in a news conference after he ordered U.S. forces to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that “very large oil companies” will spend “billions of dollars” in Venezuela, which has the largest oil reserves of any nation worldwide.
“The oil business has been a total bust,” Trump said of Venezuela’s oil, which is produced and controlled by a government-run company. “They were pumping almost nothing in.”
“Very large US oil companies” will “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” and “start making money for the country,” Trump said.
Chevron is the only American company that currently has access to Venezuelan oil, through a joint venture with the state-run company.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Hours after his administration struck Venezuela and deposed its president, President Donald Trump said at a Saturday news conference that the U.S. plans to run the country until a transition in leadership can take place.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said.
Trump said, “It has to be judicious, because that’s what we are all about.”
The president did not immediately provide additional details on how the U.S. planned to manage the sovereign nation.
During an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” earlier in the day, Trump declined to say whether he would back Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, for the presidency.
−Francesca Chambers
President Donald Trump posted a photo of Nicolás Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima, a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship, where he was being held with his wife.
The photo shows Maduro in a gray sweatsuit, holding a water bottle and wearing what appeared to be noise-suppressing earmuffs and a dark covering over his eyes.
Maduro and his wife will be taken to New York to face charges of drug trafficking in an indictment, Trump has said.
−Jeanine Santucci
Several Latin American leaders condemned the American military actions in Venezuela.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the left-wing leader whose country borders Venezuela, said in an X post that the strike crossed an “unacceptable line” that set “another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community.”
In a statement, the government of Mexico said it “strongly condemns and rejects the military actions unilaterally carried out by American armed forces.”
Conservative allies of President Donald Trump in the region celebrated the actions.
“FREEDOM ADVANCES” Argentinian President Javier Milei said on X. Chilean President-elect José Antonio Kast Rist called Maduro’s arrest “great news for the region.”
In an “urgent call for de-escalation,” Gustavo Petro, the left-wing president of Colombia who has frequently feuded with Trump, said his country would move to “preserve stability” along its border with Venezuela and address “eventual humanitarian or migratory needs.”
−Eduardo Cuevas
Maduro’s federal indictment charges him with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and two illegal weapons counts.
The indictment also sought the seizure of any belongings that resulted from the alleged criminal conspiracy.
Maduro “sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” the indictment said.
Other defendants include Diosdado Cabello Rondon, Venezuela’s minister of interior, justice and peace; Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, the former minister of interior and justice; first lady Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro; the president’s son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, a member of the country’s national assembly; and the alleged leader of the crime gang Tren de Aragua, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores.
−Bart Jansen
Vice President JD Vance argued that Maduro’s capture was legitimate because he faces multiple indictments in the United States for narcoterrorism.
“You don’t get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas,” Vance said on social media.
Vance said Trump had offered Maduro several options to avoid a military attack but that U.S. demands were clear that “drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States.”
“Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says,” Vance said.
−Bart Jansen
The Venezuelan leader and his wife were being held on the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship, in the Caribbean, Trump told Fox news.
“They’re on a ship, but they’ll be heading into New York. The helicopters took them out,” Trump said. “A nice flight, I’m sure they loved it. They’ve killed a lot of people.”
“Even people in their own country, they killed a lot of people to maintain power,” Trump added. “He’s a very vicious person.”
−Francesca Chambers
President Trump told Fox news in a phone interview that, as far as he knows, no U.S. forces were killed and no American aircraft were lost during the overnight strike on Venezuela.
“I think we had nobody killed,” Trump said. “A couple of guys were hit, but they came back, and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape.”
One U.S. helicopter was hit hard, Trump added, but the U.S. was able to recover it.
−Francesca Chambers
Democratic lawmakers accused the Trump administration of conducting an illegal war with Venezuela and misleading Congress about the purpose of its strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean after the U.S. bombed the country and captured its leader overnight.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Iraq war veteran who represents Arizona, called the strike the “second unjustified war in my life time” in a social media post.
“This war is illegal, it’s embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in less than one year,” Gallego said.”
Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz said the U.S. has “no vital national interests in Venezuela to justify war” and the nation should “have learned not to stumble into another stupid adventure by now.”
Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, said on X that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators during a December briefing that the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers and strikes on alleged drug boats were not about regime change.
“I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress. Trump rejected our Constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the Administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war,” Kim said.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California, called Maduro “a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela,” but said terrorizing and oppressing his people didn’t justify Trump “trampling the Constitution.”
“Acting without Congressional approval or the buy-in of the public, Trump risks plunging a hemisphere into chaos and has broken his promise to end wars instead of starting them,’ Schiff said in a statement.
−Francesca Chambers and Bart Jansen
The U.S. capture of Maduro comes just weeks after President Trump gave a full pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted and serving a 45-year sentence in federal prison for cocaine distribution.
Trump announced he planned to pardon Hernández on Nov. 28, 2025, and White House officials confirmed the pardon by Dec. 2.
Hernández was convicted in March 2024 of conspiring with drug kingpins to bring more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States in what then-Attorney General Merrick Garland called “one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world.”
In a social media post, Trump said the former Honduran president had been “treated very harshly and unfairly.”
−Jeanine Santucci
Russia’s foreign ministry said the U.S. strikes on Venezueala were “deeply concerning and condemnable.”
“The pretexts used to justify such actions are unfounded,” the ministry said in a statement. “Ideological animosity has prevailed over business pragmatism and the willingness to build relationships based on trust and predictability.”
“In the current situation, it is important, first and foremost, to prevent further escalation and to focus on finding a way out of the situation through dialogue.”
Russia has been an ally of Venezuela’s even as the U.S. turned against its socialist government. Maduro and Russian President Vladimir Putin last met in Moscow in May.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva said the “bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line,” one of many condemnations from Latin American leaders, while Argentinian President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, posted in all caps: “FREEDOM MOVES FORWARD. LONG LIVE FREEDOM DAMMIT.”
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will face trial on U.S. soil on charges of “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post to X.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi wrote.
Bondi’s post appeared to reference charges Maduro and his top officials have already faced since 2020, when they were indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Flores was not charged in those indictments.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Exactly 36 years before the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in an early morning military operation in Venezuela, U.S. forces seized Panamanian General Manuel Noriega on Jan. 3, 1990.
The arrest of Noriega shares more similarities with the Trump administration’s alleged capture of Maduro than just a date on the calendar. Noriega was first a CIA asset before he rose to power as Panama’s military strongman leader. The U.S. indicted him on drug trafficking charges, and in late 1989, then-President George H.W. Bush dispatched tens of thousands of troops to Panama to capture Noriega and bring him to face trial in the U.S.
The Trump administration’s effort to oust Maduro also centered on his alleged ties to drug trafficking, for which he was charged by a U.S. court in 2020. Experts have said that, while Maduro’s regime profits from drug trafficking, he does not lead a vast drug smuggling network like the role Noriega played.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Venezuelan security forces patrolled largely empty streets at dawn in the capital, Caracas, hours after loud explosions woke residents to the news that U.S. commandos had bombed the country and captured President Maduro.
Streets close to the Miraflores presidential palace were deserted except for checkpoints manned by uniformed gunmen, as residents were left guessing who was now in charge of the oil-rich nation.
Smoke streaked the sky, with a dark plume still billowing from the direction of the Port of La Guaira to the north, while another was visible near an air base in the capital.
For supporters of the opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, excitement was also in the air.
“My sister, who is in the United States, woke me up with the news; she was crying. We cried together out of happiness,” said Jairo Chacin, 39, a mechanic and workshop owner in oil hub Maracaibo, as he waited in a long line to stock up on groceries.
−Reuters
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton said Saturday morning that he’d spoken to Marco Rubio and the Trump official confirmed that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is in U.S. custody and will face criminal charges.
“Nicolas Maduro wasn’t just an illegitimate dictator; he also ran a vast drug-trafficking operation. That’s why he was indicted in U.S. court nearly six years ago for drug trafficking and narco-terrorism,” Cotton said in a post on X.
The Arkansas Republican said, “The interim government in Venezuela must now decide whether to continue the drug trafficking and colluding with adversaries like Iran and Cuba or whether to act like a normal nation and return to the civilized world. I urge them to choose wisely.”
It was not immediately clear if the Trump administration notified Cotton, one of the top congressional leaders on intelligence matters, before the strike took place.
–Francesca Chambers
Venezuela called for an urgent United Nations Security Council meeting after President Trump announced the U.S. had captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an early morning military operation on Jan. 3.
In a letter dated that day, Venezuela’s representative to the U.N. denounced the U.S. “armed aggression” and its “grave implications” for peace and security. The letter was addressed to Abukar Dahir Osman, Somalia’s U.N. ambassador, who took over the rotating presidency of the Security Council on Jan. 1, and was posted to X by Yvan Gil, Venezuela’s foreign minister.
U.S. military forces had carried out “brutal, unjustified and unilateral” attacks in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, and other cities in the country, the letter said.
The statement called on governments of Latin America to mobilize in solidarity with Venezuela in response to what the letter called an attack on regional independence.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Republican Sen. Mike Lee said in a post on X that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro will “stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”
“Just got off the phone” with Rubio, Lee wrote on Jan. 3.
“He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant.”
In a second post, Lee said Rubio “anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody.”
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela’s vice president, said the Venezuelan government does not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro or his wife, Cilia Flores, after President Trump announced that the U.S. had captured Maduro and flown him out of the country.
“We demand immediate proof of life of President Nicolás Maduro and the first lady Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said on Venezuelan state TV.
“Proof of life” is a term associated with kidnappings, in which captors provide confirmation that the victim they are ransoming is still alive.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
Members of the Army’s secretive Delta Force led the raid to capture Maduro and his wife, according to CBS News.
Delta Force, considered the Army’s equivalent to the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, is trained in counterterrorism and raids against important targets. The unit carried out the 2019 raid that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS.
Videos from Caracas circulating on social media showed several helicopters flying over the city and firing at targets. The Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment routinely supports Delta Force and other U.S. special operations forces on high-stakes missions.
–Davis Winkie
David Smolansky, a spokesperson for Maria Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, told USA TODAY that strikes carried out by the U.S. targeted several critical infrastructure and military facilities.
Those include Fuerte Tiuna, the main military base in Caracas, La Carlota, a military airbase, a site for signal antennae and communications infrastructure on a peak overlooking Caracas called El Volcán, and a port on the Caribbean coast called La Guaira.
−Cybele Mayes-Osteman
President Trump has had his sights set on toppling Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s strongman leader, since his first term in the White House.
In 2019, the Trump administration threw its weight behind Juan Guaido, an opposition politician who attempted to unseat Maduro in a failed coup. Maduro and some high-level Venezuelan officials were indicted the next year in a U.S. court on drug trafficking and corruption charges.
A former bus driver, Maduro rose through the ranks of Hugo Chavez’ socialist party and took over as his handpicked successor after an election held after Chavez’ death in 2013.
Maduro has been widely accused by election monitoring organizations and the Venezuelan opposition of rigging the next two elections to stay in power.
−Cybele Mayes-Osterman
The State Department acknowledged “reports of explosions in and around Caracas, Venezuela,” in a post to the U.S. Embassy Venezuela website.
“U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place and depart immediately when it is safe to do so,” said the post by the U.S. Embassy Colombia. (The American embassy in Caracas closed in 2019.)
The alert reiterated earlier travel guidance from Dec. 3 warning “all U.S. citizens in Venezuela … to depart immediately.”
–Davis Winkie
Gen. Vladimir Padrino López, Venezuela’s defense minister, called the U.S. operation “the most criminal military aggression” in a statement shared by state media outlet teleSUR TV.
Padrino López, who has held his position for more than a decade, is under U.S. sanctions and was indicted on U.S. drug trafficking charges in 2019.
–Davis Winkie
The overnight explosions follow a series of attacks by the U.S. military on alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific that began in early September. The campaign escalated to include the seizure of oil tankers coming and going from Venezuelan ports in late December.
A sizeable American flotilla has amassed in the southern Caribbean Sea, including multiple guided missile destroyers, a missile cruiser, and a Marine Corps amphibious ready group aboard Navy landing ships. The U.S. publicly moved the USS Gerald R. Ford – the world’s largest aircraft carrier – into the region in recent months as well.
Just days before the apparent attack, President Donald Trump confirmed that the CIA conducted a land strike against a dock facility in the country.
The administration has attacked at least 35 boats traversing international waters, killing at least 115 people − many of them Venezuelans. Trump and other officials have defended the boat strikes as an attempt to stop illegal narcotics, specifically fentanyl, from flooding into the country.
“The Biden administration preferred the kid gloves approach, allowing millions of people — including dangerous cartels and unvetted Afghans — to flood our communities with drugs and violence,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a Nov. 29 post on X, when he lashed out at a report that he ordered U.S. military officials to leave no survivors during one of the Caribbean sea strikes.
Lawmakers from both parties have criticized the Trump administration’s military attacks for providing no intelligence briefings or other evidence about what the vessels are carrying. Some members of Congress, former military officials and legal analysts have said the strikes are illegal and amount to extrajudicial killings that violate international human rights law.
Some of those lawmakers also criticized Saturday’s strikes and the administration’s silence in their immediate wake.
“We have no vital national interests in Venezuela to justify war,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, on X. “We should have learned not to stumble into another stupid adventure by now. And he’s not even bothering to tell the American public what the hell is going on.”
Trump has described Maduro, who has been in power since 2013 after the death of populist Hugo Chávez, as running Venezuela like a “narco-terrorist” drug cartel that is directly responsible for American deaths.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice banning commercial aircraft from operating in Venezuelan airspace around 1 a.m. ET on Jan. 3.
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard and Philip Bailey, USA TODAY; Reuters