The United States struck Venezuela and captured its long-serving President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, President Donald Trump said, after months of pressuring him over accusations of drug-running and illegitimacy in power.
Washington has not made such a direct intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega, over similar allegations.
"The 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," Trump said in a social media post.
Ahead of the overnight strike, the US had accused Maduro of running a "narco-state" and rigging last year's election, which the opposition said it won overwhelmingly. The Venezuelan leader, who succeeded Hugo Chavez to take power in 2013, has said Washington wants control of the South American nation's oil reserves, the largest in the world.
Venezuela's government said civilians and military personnel died in the strikes but did not give figures.
MADURO MAY FACE CRIMINAL CHARGES IN US
Trump said the operation was carried out "in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement," promising more details at an 11 a.m. press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Maduro was captured by elite special forces troops, a U.S. official told Reuters. Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had told him Maduro would stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.
Rubio "anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody," Lee wrote on X.
In the Panama case, Noriega ended up in prison for 20 years.
Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who could take charge of government, said she did not know the whereabouts of either Maduro or his wife.
"We demand that President Donald Trump’s government provide immediate proof of life for President Maduro and the First Lady," Rodriguez said in an audio played on state TV.
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