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The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” on Saturday morning and said its president, Nicolás Maduro, had been captured and expelled from the country after months of increased pressure from Washington – an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.
Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying planes swept through Caracas, the oil-rich country’s capital, as Maduro’s government immediately accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations. The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.
It was not immediately clear who was leading the country and it was unclear where Maduro was. Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET. Under Venezuelan law, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez would take power. There was no confirmation of what had happened, although she issued a statement after the strike.
WATCH | The United States confirms its first strike on Venezuelan soil earlier this week:
US President Donald Trump says the strike targeted a drug boat loading facility. Tony Frangie Mawad, a journalist in Venezuela, shares the latest news on escalating tensions.
“We don’t know where President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores are,” Rodriguez said. “We demand proof of life.”
Maduro, Trump said, “was, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country. This operation was carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. Details will follow.” He set a press conference for Saturday morning. The legal implications of the strike under U.S. law were not immediately clear.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about where Maduro and his wife were being flown to, but U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Maduro would be tried on criminal charges in the United States. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 on “narcoterrorism” conspiracy charges in the Southern District of New York.
The explosions in Caracas – at least seven explosions – sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the explosions. It was not immediately clear whether there were any victims. The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and it was unclear whether further action was forthcoming, although Trump said in his message that the strikes were carried out “successfully.”
The Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace due to “ongoing military activity” before the explosions.
The strike came after the Trump administration spent months ramping up pressure on Maduro. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week on a docking area allegedly used by Venezuelan drug cartels.
For months, Trump had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan territory, after months of attacks on boats accused of transporting drugs. Maduro hasshouted US military operations as a thinly veiled sign effort to oust him from power.
Some streets of Caracas are filling up
Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other parts of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without electricity, but vehicles moved freely.
Video obtained in Caracas and an unidentified coastal town showed tracers and smoke obscuring the landscape as loud, repeated explosions lit up the night sky. Other images showed a cityscape with cars passing on a highway as explosions lit up the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos have been verified by the Associated Press.
Smoke rose from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.
“The whole ground shook. It’s horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice shaking. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “It felt like the air was hitting us.”
The Venezuelan government responded to the attack with a call for action. “People in the street! » he said in a statement. “The Bolivarian government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and reject this imperialist attack. »
The statement added that Maduro had “ordered the implementation of all national defense plans” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” This state of emergency gives him the power to suspend the rights of the people and expand the role of the armed forces.
The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post closed since 2019, issued a warning to U.S. citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”
“US citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.
Reaction emerges early Saturday
Inquiries to the Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command since Trump’s social media post have gone unanswered. The FAA warned all U.S. commercial and private pilots that airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the country’s coast to the north, was off-limits “due to flight safety risks associated with ongoing military activity.”
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, voiced potential concerns, reflecting the view of the right wing of Congress. “I look forward to knowing what, if anything, could constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” Lee said on X.
It was unclear whether the US Congress had been officially informed of the strikes.
Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have expressed deep reservations and categorical objections to U.S. attacks on suspected drug trafficking boats near the Venezuelan coast and Congress has not specifically approved authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.
Regional reaction was not immediately evident in the early hours of Saturday. Cuba, however, a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the United States, called on the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called the “criminal attack.” “Our peace zone is being brutally attacked,” he said on X. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.
Argentine President Javier Milei greeted his close ally Trump’s claim that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often uses to celebrate right-wing gains: “Long live freedom, damn it!”
The global situation is closely following
The European Union has repeatedly said Maduro “lacks legitimacy,” the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said Saturday, adding that she called for restraint and respect for international law regarding the situation.
“The EU has… championed a peaceful transition. In all circumstances, the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter must be respected. We call for restraint,” Kallas said on X, adding that she had spoken with Rubio.
Several other world leaders, including from Italy, Belgium, Indonesia and Germany, confirmed they were monitoring the situation on the ground and were in contact with relevant embassies.
LISTEN | Will the United States invade Venezuela?
Front burner29:32Will the United States invade Venezuela?
Over the weekend, Donald Trump said on Truth Social that the airspace around Venezuela should be considered closed. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry responded by calling the remarks “another extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the Venezuelan people.” Late last week, Trump also said ground action against suspected drug trafficking networks in the country could begin very soon. All this is happening against a backdrop of a serious military buildup in the Caribbean and growing threats to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. Is this preparation for an invasion? And is it really about drugs? Or do Venezuela’s enormous oil reserves have something to do with it? Jon Lee Anderson is our guest. He is a staff writer at the New Yorker and has written extensively on U.S.-Venezuela relations and U.S. interference in Latin America. For Front Burner transcripts, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts]
CBC News has contacted Global Affairs Canada and will update this story when we receive a response.
The US military has been attacking ships in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat collisions was 35 and the number of people killed was at least 115, according to figures announced by the Trump administration.
They followed a significant buildup of U.S. forces in the waters off South America, including the November arrival of the country’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.
Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and claimed the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
