Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by US forces during a \u201clarge-scale\u201d nighttime military operation early Saturday, President Trump announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement. Details to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (C) and First Lady Cilia Flores (L) were captured by US forces on Saturday morning, according to President Trump. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Trump celebrated the mission in which Maduro and first lady were flown to the US, where the Venezuelan president is set to stand trial on criminal charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,\u201d Trump told the New York Times<\/a>. \u201cIt was a brilliant operation, actually.\u201d <\/p>\n Trump ordered airstrikes on military sites around the Venezuelan capital of Caracas with at least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft reported in the region, which began around 2 a.m. local time amid heightened tensions between Maduro and the US.<\/p>\n A column of smoke rises during multiple explosions in the early hours of the morning, in Caracas, Venezuela, January 3, 2026. via REUTERS<\/p>\n Fire erupts at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela\u2019s largest military complex, after a series of explosions in Caracas on January 3, 2026. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n The strikes rocked sites in the state of Miranda, where\u00a0Caracas is located, and nearby Aragua and La\u00a0Guiera, sending plumes of smoke and fire into the air and causing power outages.<\/p>\n Photos show a fire tearing through Fuerte (Fort) Tiuna, Venezuela\u2019s largest military complex located in Caracas, after an explosion.<\/p>\n Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who would take power under the country\u2019s law, said she didn\u2019t know the whereabouts of Maduro and Flores.<\/p>\n \u201cWe demand proof of life,\u201d Rodriguez said. <\/p>\n Residents reacted to the ground-shaking explosions as they were walking the streets of the capital.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes in the distance,\u201d Carmen Hidalgo told the Associated Press. \u201cWe felt like the air was hitting us.\u201d<\/p>\n The Federal Aviation Administration banned US commercial flights over Venezuela early Saturday because of \u201congoing military activity.\u201d <\/p>\n Smoke rises at La Carlota airport after a reported overnight explosion on Jan. 3, 2026. AP<\/p>\n The US Embassy in Caracas advised Americans not to travel to Venezuela and urged those in the country to leave.<\/p>\n The Venezuelan government denounced the alleged attack as an aggression from the US and a violation of the United Nations charter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela\u2019s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to forcibly break the nation\u2019s political independence,\u201d the government said in a statement. \u201cThey will not succeed. After more than two hundred years of independence, the people and their legitimate government remain steadfast in defense of sovereignty and the inalienable right to determine their own destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n Soldiers guard the area around the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026. AP<\/p>\n The Venezuelan government declared a state of emergency and \u201cordered all national defense plans to\u00a0be implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToday, with the spirit of Bolivar, Miranda, and our liberators, the Venezuelan people rise up once again to defend their independence against imperial aggression. People, take to the streets!\u201d the government\u2019s statement read.<\/p>\n In a video address that aired on Thursday, Maduro accused the US of wanting to force a government change in the South American country and access its oil reserves.<\/p>\n Pedestrians run after explosions were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. AP<\/p>\n The 63-year-old Maduro, who has held power in Venezuela for 13 years, has been charged with narco-terrorism by the US. On Friday, Maduro met with a special envoy for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the presidential palace in Caracas to reaffirm ties with China amid tensions with the US.<\/p>\n Colombian President Gustavo Petro claimed his neighboring country was \u201cattacked\u201d and called for a meeting between the Organization of American States and the United Nations.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now they are bombing Caracas. Alert to the whole world, they have attacked Venezuela,\u201d Petro\u00a0wrote on X.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cThey are bombing with missiles. The OAS and the UN must meet immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n View of Caracas taken after a series of explosions heard on January 3, 2026. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n Cuban officials called the strikes \u201ccriminal activity by the US.<\/p>\n \u201cOur\u00a0\u2018Peace Zone\u2019\u00a0<\/a>is being brutally assaulted. State terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people and against Our America,\u201d Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said. \u201cHomeland or Death We Shall Overcome!\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, Maduro claimed his regime was \u201cready\u201d to discuss an agreement with the US to prevent drug trafficking.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US government knows, because we\u2019ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we\u2019re ready,\u201d the left-wing authoritarian told Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet in a sitdown recorded on New Year\u2019s Eve and broadcast on state TV Thursday.<\/p>\n The US military has carried out drone strikes off the Venezuelan coast on suspect drug smuggling boats.<\/p>\n Maduro\u2019s call for talks comes a week after a CIA\u00a0drone strike on a docking area<\/a>\u00a0believed to be used by cartels.<\/p>\n Venezuela had\u00a0detained at least five Americans<\/a>\u00a0following the\u00a0Trump administration\u2019s latest\u00a0military and economic pressure campaign.<\/a><\/p>\n One of the detainees,\u00a0James Luckey-Lange, a Staten Island resident, claims he was wrongfully detained\u00a0as he crossed the Venezuelan border on a long-trip across Latin America.<\/p>\n With Post wires<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by US forces during a \u201clarge-scale\u201d nighttime…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":489450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,277,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,32322,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-489449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-trump","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa","22":"tag-venezuela","23":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115831257607025562","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}