{"id":198271,"date":"2026-01-27T02:32:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T02:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/a-timeline-of-u-s-military-escalation-against-venezuela-leading-to-maduros-capture-pbs\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T02:32:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T02:32:04","slug":"a-timeline-of-u-s-military-escalation-against-venezuela-leading-to-maduros-capture-pbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/a-timeline-of-u-s-military-escalation-against-venezuela-leading-to-maduros-capture-pbs\/","title":{"rendered":"A timeline of U.S. military escalation against Venezuela leading to Maduro's capture – PBS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your generous monthly contribution\u2014 or whatever you can give\u2014will help secure our future.
Ben Finley, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Ben Finley, Associated Press <\/a>
Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press <\/a>
Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press <\/a>
Leave your feedback
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump had long threatened that he could order\u00a0military strikes\u00a0on targets on Venezuelan territory after months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs from the South American country.\u00a0President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u00a0of Venezuela said the U.S. military operations were a thinly veiled\u00a0effort to oust him from power.
READ MORE:<\/strong> U.S. strikes Venezuela and says leader Maduro has been captured and flown out of the country<\/a>
On Saturday, the U.S. conducted a “large-scale strike” against Venezuela. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken from their home on a military base and were aboard a U.S. warship on their way to New York, where they were to face\u00a0criminal charges<\/a>. An indictment accused them of a role in narco-terrorism conspiracy.
The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.
Before the escalation, there had been 35 known strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in South American waters since early September that killed at least 115 people, according to announcements from the Republican administration.
The U.S. had sent\u00a0a fleet of warships\u00a0to the region, the largest buildup of forces in generations.
The White House said Washington was in\u00a0“armed conflict” with drug cartels\u00a0to halt the flow of narcotics into the United States, while U.S. officials alleged that Maduro supported the international drug trade.
Here is a timeline of the U.S. military actions and related developments:
Trump\u00a0signs an executive order\u00a0that paved the way for criminal organizations and drug cartels to be named “foreign terrorist organizations.” They included Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang.
U.S. intelligence agencies have disputed\u00a0Trump’s central claim that Maduro’s administration was working with Tren de Aragua and orchestrating drug trafficking and illegal immigration into the U.S.
The Trump administration\u00a0formally designated<\/a>\u00a0eight Latin American crime organizations as foreign terrorist organizations.
The label is normally reserved for groups such as a-Qaida or the Islamic State that use violence for political ends, and not for profit-focused crime rings.
The U.S. military\u00a0deployed three guided-missile destroyers\u00a0to the waters off Venezuela.
The naval force in the Caribbean grew within weeks to include three amphibious assault ships and other vessels, carrying about 6,000 sailors and Marines and a variety of aircraft.
The U.S. sent F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico in September, while a Navy submarine carrying cruise missiles operated off South America.
The U.S.\u00a0carried out its first strike<\/a>\u00a0against what Trump said was a drug-carrying vessel that departed from\u00a0Venezuela\u00a0and was operated by Tren de Aragua.
Trump said all 11 people on the boat were killed. He posted a short video clip of a small vessel appearing to explode in flames.
In a letter to the White House, Democratic senators said the administration had provided “no legitimate legal justification” for the strike.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. military was not “empowered to hunt down suspected criminals and kill them without trial.”
The U.S. military\u00a0carried out its second strike\u00a0against an alleged drug boat, killing three people.
Asked what proof the U.S. had that the vessel was carrying drugs, Trump told reporters that big bags of cocaine and fentanyl were spattered all over the ocean. Images of what Trump described were not released by the military or the White House.
Trump said the U.S. military carried out\u00a0its third fatal strike<\/a>\u00a0against an alleged drug-smuggling vessel. Several senators and human rights groups continued\u00a0to question the legality<\/a>\u00a0of the strikes, describing them as a potential overreach of executive authority.
Trump\u00a0declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants\u00a0and said the U.S. was now in an “armed conflict” with them, according to an administration memo obtained by The Associated Press.
READ MORE:<\/strong> Trump declares U.S. in ‘non-international armed conflict’ with drug cartels<\/a>
The memo appeared to represent an extraordinary\u00a0assertion of presidential war powers\u00a0and drew criticism from some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he ordered\u00a0a fourth strike on a small boat\u00a0he accused of carrying drugs.
Senate Republicans\u00a0voted down legislation\u00a0that would have required the president to seek authorization from Congress before further military strikes.
Trump announced the fifth strike<\/a>\u00a0against a small boat accused of carrying drugs, saying it killed six people.
Trump confirmed\u00a0he has authorized the CIA\u00a0to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and said he was weighing carrying out land operations in the country.
He declined to say whether the CIA has authority to take action against\u00a0Maduro.
The Navy admiral who oversaw military operations in the region\u00a0said he will retire\u00a0in December.
Adm. Alvin Holsey became leader of U.S. Southern Command only the previous November, overseeing an area that encompasses the Caribbean and waters off South America. Such postings typically last three years to four years.
Trump said the U.S. struck a sixth suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean,\u00a0killing two people and leaving two survivors\u00a0who were on the semisubmersible craft.
The president later said the survivors would be\u00a0sent to Ecuador and Colombia, their home countries, “for detention and prosecution.” Repatriation avoided questions about what their legal status would have been in the U.S. justice system.
The U.S. military\u00a0attacked a seventh vessel\u00a0that Hegseth said was carrying “substantial amounts of narcotics” and associated with a Colombian rebel group,\u00a0the National Liberation Army, or ELN<\/a>. Three people are killed.
Washington Rep. Adam Smith, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called for a hearing on the boat strikes.
“Never before in my over 20 years on the committee can I recall seeing a combatant commander leave their post this early and amid such turmoil,” Smith said in a statement of Holsey’s impending departure. “I have also never seen such a staggering lack of transparency on behalf of an Administration and the Department to meaningfully inform Congress on the use of lethal military force.”
Hegseth said the U.S. military<\/a>\u00a0launched its eighth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing two people in the eastern Pacific.
The attack was an expansion of the military’s targeting area to the waters off South America where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.
Hegseth announced the ninth strike, another in the eastern Pacific, saying three men are killed.
Hegseth ordered the U.S. military’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the region in a significant escalation of\u00a0military firepower<\/a>.
Hegseth said the military\u00a0conducted the 10th strike<\/a>\u00a0on a suspected drug-running boat, leaving six people dead.
Hegseth said\u00a0three more strikes<\/a>\u00a0were carried out in the eastern Pacific, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor.
Hegseth said Mexican authorities “assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue” of the sole survivor, who was presumed dead after Mexico suspended its search.
Hegseth said the U.S. military\u00a0carried out another strike\u00a0on a boat he said was carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific, killing all four people aboard in the 14th attack.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the administration\u00a0briefed Republicans, but not Democrats, on the boat strikes.
The Senate at the time was facing a potential vote on a war powers resolution that would have prohibited strikes in or near Venezuela without congressional approval.
U.N. human rights chief Volker T\u00fcrk\u00a0called for an investigation\u00a0into the strikes, in what appeared to be the first such condemnation of its kind from a U.N. organization.
READ MORE:<\/strong> UN human rights chief: U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats ‘unacceptable’<\/a>
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for T\u00fcrk’s office, relayed his message at a briefing: “The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”
Hegseth announced\u00a0the 15th known strike, saying three people were killed.
In the\u00a016th known strike<\/a>, Hegseth posted on social media that two people were killed aboard a vessel in the eastern Pacific.
Hegseth announced the\u00a017th known strike, which killed three people.
Senate Republicans\u00a0voted to reject legislation\u00a0that would have limited Trump’s ability to order an attack on Venezuelan soil without congressional authorization. Lawmakers from both parties had demanded\u00a0more information on the strikes, but Republicans appeared more willing to give Trump leeway to continue his\u00a0buildup of naval forces.
The U.S. military\u00a0struck two vessels<\/a>\u00a0in the eastern Pacific, killing six people, according to an announcement from Hegseth the following day.
The\u00a020th known strike\u00a0on a boat accused of transporting drugs killed four people in the Caribbean, according to a social media post from the U.S. military’s Southern Command.
Venezuela’s government\u00a0launched what it said was a “massive” mobilization\u00a0of troops and volunteers for two days of exercises prompted by the U.S. military buildup.
WATCH:<\/strong> U.S. carrier in Caribbean amid Venezuela tensions and outcry over drug boat strikes<\/a>
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino L\u00f3pez asserted that Venezuela’s military was “stronger than ever in its unity, morale and equipment.”
Three people were killed\u00a0after the U.S. military conducted its 21st strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, according to a post from Southern Command a day later.
The Ford\u00a0arrived in the Caribbean<\/a>, a major moment in the Trump administration’s show of force.
The aircraft carrier’s arrival brought the total number of troops in the region to around 12,000 on nearly a dozen Navy ships in what Hegseth said was “Operation Southern Spear.”
Trump said the U.S. “may be having some discussions\u00a0” with Maduro and “Venezuela would like to talk,” without offering details.
“I’ll talk to anybody,” Trump said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley appeared for closed-door classified briefings at the Capitol as lawmakers began\u00a0investigating<\/a>\u00a0the strikes. The investigation started after reports that Bradley ordered a follow-on attack that killed the survivors of the first strike on Sept. 2 to comply with Hegseth’s demands.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., later told reporters that “Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all.”
Democrats said they found the video of the entire attack disturbing.
Smith said the survivors were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water \u2014 until the missiles come and kill them.”
Four people were killed in\u00a0the 22nd strike\u00a0on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, according to a post from Southern Command.
The U.S.\u00a0seized an oil tanker<\/a>\u00a0off the coast of Venezuela after the ship left that country with about 2 million barrels of heavy crude.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the tanker was involved in “an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.” Venezuela’s government said the seizure was “a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”
The U.S. military struck three alleged drug-smuggling boats,\u00a0killing eight people, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Southern Command announced.
Hegseth said the Pentagon\u00a0will not publicly release unedited video<\/a>\u00a0of the Sept. 2 strike that killed two survivors, even as questions mounted in Congress about the attack and the overall campaign near Venezuela.
Trump said he was\u00a0ordering a blockade\u00a0of all “sanctioned oil tankers” going into and out of Venezuela, a move that seemed designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s oil-dependent economy.
WATCH:<\/strong> Trump escalates Maduro confrontation with blockade on Venezuelan oil tankers<\/a>
Trump alleged that Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking, terrorism and other crimes. He pledged to continue the military buildup until Venezuela returned to the U.S. oil, land and assets, though it was unclear why Trump felt the U.S. had a claim.
The U.S. military said it attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean,\u00a0killing four people<\/a>.
House Republicans\u00a0rejected a pair of Democratic-backed resolutions\u00a0that would have put a check on Trump’s power to use military force against drug cartels and Venezuela. They were the first votes in the House after Senate Republicans\u00a0previously voted down similar war powers resolutions.
The U.S. military said it conducted two more strikes against boats that were allegedly smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific,\u00a0killing five people<\/a>.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the U.S. Coast Guard, with help from the Defense Department, stopped a second oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
Trump confirmed that the U.S. Coast Guard was chasing another oil tanker that the administration described as part of the “dark fleet.”
The U.S. military said it\u00a0attacked a boat<\/a>\u00a0accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four people.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up.” He declined to say whether the U.S. military or the CIA carried out the strike on the dock or where it occurred. He did not confirm it happened in Venezuela.
The U.S. military said it\u00a0attacked a boat<\/a>\u00a0accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people.
The CIA was behind\u00a0the drone strike\u00a0at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels,\u00a0according to two people familiar with details\u00a0of the classified operation who requested anonymity to discuss it.
WATCH:<\/strong> With strike inside Venezuela, U.S. increases pressure on Maduro regime<\/a>
It was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September. Venezuelan officials have not acknowledged the strike.
The U.S. military\u00a0struck three more boats\u00a0that were allegedly smuggling drugs, killing three people in the first boat while people from the other two boats jumped overboard and may have survived, Southern Command announced the following day.
The U.S.\u00a0imposed sanctions on four companies\u00a0operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and designated four additional oil tankers as blocked property and part of the larger shadow fleet that was evading U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.
The U.S. military said it attacked two more boats, killing five people who were allegedly smuggling drugs along known trafficking routes.
Maduro, in an\u00a0interview on state television<\/a>\u00a0that aired on New Year’s Day, said Venezuela was open to negotiating an agreement with the United States to\u00a0combat drug trafficking. He declined to comment on the CIA-led strike and reiterated that the U.S. wanted to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves.
The U.S. conducted a “large-scale strike” across Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, captured Maduro and Flores and flew them out of the country. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and Flores had been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Maduro was accused of leading a “a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.”
Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela.<\/em>
Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue.
<\/use><\/svg>Left:<\/span> U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighter jets taxi on the tarmac as personnel stand next to military equipment at the former Roosevelt Roads naval base, after President Donald Trump said the U.S. has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro, in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, Jan. 3, 2026. Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui\/Reuters
By<\/span> Associated Press
By<\/span> Associated Press
By<\/span> Jill Lawless, Rebecca Santana, Associated Press
By<\/span> Aamer Madhani, Associated Press
By<\/span> Regina Garcia Cano, Konstantin Toropin, Eric Tucker, Associated Press
By<\/span> Joshua Barajas
 Ben Finley, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Ben Finley, Associated Press <\/a>
Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press <\/a>
Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press<\/span> <\/a> Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press <\/a>
Support Provided By:<\/span> Learn more<\/a>
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.
© 1996 – 2026 NewsHour Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.
PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Sections
About
Stay Connected
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal with Lisa Desjardins
Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.
Support for News Hour Provided By<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your generous monthly contribution\u2014 or whatever you can give\u2014will help secure our future. Ben Finley, Associated Press Ben Finley, Associated Press Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press Regina Garcia Cano, Associated Press Leave your feedbackWASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump had long threatened that he could order\u00a0military strikes\u00a0on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-198271","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}