André Rhoden-Paul and Mallory MoenchAnd
BBC Check
The United States has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after a large-scale strike on the South American country, US President Donald Trump said.
Trump said Venezuela’s left-wing president and his wife were flown out in a military operation in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. They were charged with drug and weapons offenses in New York.
This comes after explosions were reported in the capital Caracas in the early hours of Saturday morning, including at military bases.
The Venezuelan government deployed its armed forces and declared a state of national emergency.
Maduro’s capture comes after heightened tensions between the two countries, with Washington striking boats in the Caribbean that it says are used to transport drugs.
The United States accuses the Venezuelan president of being personally involved in drug trafficking and being an illegitimate leader, while Maduro has accused the United States of intimidation and wanting to seize its oil.
Trump, at a news conference Saturday, said the United States would “lead” Venezuela “through a safe, appropriate and wise transition,” adding that American oil companies would also establish a foothold in the country.
Here’s what we know so far.
What do we know about the operation?
Maduro was captured by the US army’s Delta Force, the main military counter-terrorism unit, CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported.
A CIA source in the Venezuelan government helped the United States locate Maduro as part of a large intelligence network, CBS said.
Speaking alongside Trump on Saturday, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Operation Absolute Resolve took months of planning and rehearsals as forces waited for the right time.
More than 150 planes were used to bring an extraction team to the capital.
The team entered Maduro’s compound – “a house that was more like a fortress”, according to Trump – at 02:01 local time (06:01 GMT) – the lights in Caracas having been turned off by the Americans.
The US president said Maduro tried to enter a secure, steel-fortified location, managed to reach the gate, but failed to close it.
He added that no members of the US forces were killed and there were “few” injuries during the operation, which he said he watched live.
Maduro and his wife were put on a boat then a plane, which then landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, about 60 miles north of Manhattan.
CBS had reported that they would have to be taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn.
Donald Trump
Alongside the military operation, loud explosions were heard in Caracas, while plumes of smoke rose above the city.
Videos of explosions and helicopter flyovers have circulated on social media, but have not yet been verified.
It is not known if there were any casualties.
The Venezuelan government also said the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira were affected.
Trump said U.S. forces were “prepared for a second wave” but were not required to lead one because the first was “very powerful.”
AFP via Getty Images
Where were the strikes?
BBC Verify is working on a number of videos showing explosions, fires and smoke in locations around Caracas to identify exactly which sites were targeted.
So far, five locations have been confirmed:
- Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base, an airfield known as La Carlota
- Fuerte Tiuna, a key military installation in Caracas
- Port La Guaira, the main channel from Caracas to the Caribbean Sea, located in the state of Miranda
- Higuerote Airport, also located in Miranda state, just east of Caracas
- Antenas El Volcan, a telecommunications tower on Cerro El Volcan, a high peak in the state of Miranda
How did Venezuela react?
Vice President Delcy Rodríguez called on state television for calm and unity, called for the release of Maduro, who she said was the “only president”, and added that Venezuela would never be a colony of any nation.
Earlier Saturday, Trump said Rodríguez had been sworn in as president and that he had spoken to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and told him “we will do whatever you need,” Trump said. “She really has no choice,” Trump added.
The country’s Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, said earlier that the strikes had hit civilian areas and that the government was compiling information on the dead and injured.
He added that Venezuela would “resist” the presence of foreign troops.
The Venezuelan government issued an official statement denouncing the “extremely serious military aggression” of the United States “against the Venezuelan territory and population in civilian and military areas.”
He also accused the United States of threatening international peace and stability and described the attack as an attempt to seize Venezuela’s “strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals,” with the aim of “forcibly breaking the nation’s political independence.”
What will happen next to Venezuela?
At Saturday’s press conference, Trump said the United States would “lead the country until we can make a safe, appropriate and wise transition.”
When asked by reporters about Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, Trump said she had no support or respect.
Earlier, on social networks, Machado declared that “the hour of freedom has arrived” and called Edmundo González Urrutia, who, according to the results of the votes published by his party won the 2024 elections to take power.
Trump also said U.S. oil companies would step in to fix infrastructure “and start making money for the country.”
He said “we are going to take a huge amount of wealth out of the ground” that will go to the people of Venezuela and the United States, adding “we are going to be reimbursed for everything we have spent.”
He also said the United States would sell oil to other countries.
When asked whether U.S. troops would be deployed to Venezuela, Trump responded that “we are not afraid of the troops on the ground.”
What is Maduro accused of?
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were indicted in the Southern District of New York.
They were charged with conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism and importation of cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil, in American courts,” Bondi wrote on X.
Who is Maduro and why was he captured?
Nicolás Maduro rose to prominence under the leadership of left-wing President Hugo Chávez and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). He succeeded Chávez as president in 2013.
In 2024, Maduro was declared winner of the presidential electionalthough the results of the votes collected by the opposition suggest that its candidate, Edmundo González, won a landslide victory.
He has disagreed with Trump because of the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the United States and the trafficking of drugs into the United States, particularly fentanyl and cocaine.
Trump designated two Venezuelan drug gangs – Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Soles – as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) and alleged that they were led by Maduro himself.
The US had offered a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
Maduro has vehemently denied being a cartel leader and accused the United States of using its “war on drugs” as a pretext to try to remove him and get its hands on Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
In recent months, American forces have also led more than two dozen strikes in international waters on boats allegedly used to smuggle drugs into the United States. More than 100 people were killed.
Reuters
Who is Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores?
First lady Cilia Flores – who was also taken to the United States and indicted alongside her husband – has held several leadership positions in Venezuela, including attorney general and president of the National Assembly. She is considered a powerful political operator in her own right.
Flores, 59, is familiarly known as Maduro’s primera combatiente (first warrior) and has often been photographed alongside him at public engagements.
Like her husband, she was living under US sanctions – which were imposed during Trump’s first presidency based on allegations that she was involved in Maduro’s corrupt practices. At the time, Maduro responded by saying: “You don’t mess with Cilia. You don’t mess with family.”
Flores is a lawyer by training and fought for the release of Hugo Chávez, who attempted to take control of the Venezuelan government in 1992 and later became president of the country. His career became forever linked to the Chávez movement.
Flores’ tenure as head of the National Assembly was not without controversy, including his decision to bar the press from the parliamentary chamber and his accusations of nepotism.
Flores’ relatives have already been targeted by the Americans on similar drug trafficking charges. In 2015, two of his nephews were arrested in Haiti and convicted and imprisoned in the United States on drug trafficking charges. They were later released in a prisoner exchange in 2022.
How did other countries react?
The first news of the strikes drew the strongest reaction from Venezuela’s longtime allies.
Russia accused the United States of committing “a deeply worrying and reprehensible act of armed aggression.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was “deeply shocked and strongly condemns” the use of force against a sovereign country and its president.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the strikes a “blatant violation of the country’s national sovereignty.”
Venezuela’s neighbors Colombia and Brazil criticized the decision.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the strikes an “attack on the sovereignty” of Latin America, while Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called them a “criminal attack.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva wrote on
Chilean President Gabriel Boric expressed “his concern and condemnation” of X and called for “a peaceful solution to the serious crisis affecting the country.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Cane accused the United States of a “criminal attack.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s ally in Argentina, Javier Milei, wrote “Freedom Advances” and “Long Live.” ve freedom” on social networks.
On the international scene, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is “deeply alarmed” by these strikes, with his spokesperson saying in a statement that they create a “dangerous precedent”.
The UN chief is “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected” and calls on all actors in Venezuela to engage in an inclusive dialogue, with full respect for human rights and the rule of law,” his spokesperson said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government would “shed no tears” over the end of Maduro’s regime and would discuss “developments” in Venezuela with his American counterparts.
The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, reiterated the bloc’s position that Maduro lacks legitimacy and there should be a peaceful transition of power, but said principles of international law must be respected.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the transition of power “must be peaceful, democratic and respectful of the will of the Venezuelan people” in an article on X.
He added that he hoped González – the opposition candidate for the 2024 presidential election – could ensure the transition.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the legality of the US operation was “complex” and that international law in general must apply. He warned that “political instability must not appear in Venezuela.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said the government believed that “external military action is not the way to end totalitarian regimes” but said it considered “defensive intervention” against hybrid attacks as “legitimate, as in the case of state entities that fuel and promote drug trafficking.”
