Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro has been captured after the U.S. conducted a "large-scale strike" on the country early Saturday morning, President Donald Trump announced.
"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 wrote on Truth Social at 4:21 a.m. ET.
"This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow. There will be a News Conference today at 11 A.M., at Mar-a-Lago. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP."
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the indictment of Maduro and his wife on terrorism and weapons charges in the Southern District of New York.
"Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York," Bondi wrote Saturday morning on X.
"Nicholas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States. They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.
"On behalf of the entire U.S. DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers."
In an overnight phone interview with The New York Times, Trump called the covert operation "brilliant."
"A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people," Trump said. "It was a brilliant operation, actually."
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who is the next in line for the presidency, is demanding "proof of life."
"The cradle of the Liberator was attacked. In the face of this situation, we do not know the whereabouts of President Maduro," she said in a phone interview posted to X. "We demand from Donald Trump proof of life of President Maduro. People to the streets."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, after a request for a legal justification for the developing actions overnight.
"Just got off the phone with@SecRubio," Lee posted on X. "He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant.
"This action likely falls within the president's inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack.
"Thank you, @SecRubio, for keeping me apprised."
Lee added in an ensuing post: "He anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody."
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., says the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro is the Western hemisphere’s "equivalent of the fall of the Berlin wall."
"🚨I have just spoken to Secretary of State Marco Rubio," Gimenez wrote on X.
"President Trump has changed the course of history in our hemisphere. Our country & the world are safer for it.
"Today’s decisive action is this hemisphere’s equivalent to the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
"It’s a big day in Florida, where the majority of Venezuelan, Cuban, & Nicaraguan exiles reside. This is the community I represent & we are overwhelmed with emotion and hope.
"We are forever grateful to President Trump & to our brave service members for this stellar military operation.
"¡Gracias!
"🇺🇸🤝🇻🇪"
Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas, the 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. Photos on The Associated Press and Getty Images showed empty highways and only a few people in the streets.
It was not immediately clear who was running the country. Under Venezuelan law the vice president, Rodríguez, would take power. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement after the strike.
"We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores," Rodriguez said. "We demand proof of life."
The White House did not immediately respond to AP queries on where Maduro and his wife were being flown to. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 on "narco-terrorism" conspiracy charges in the Southern District of New York.
Maduro last appeared on state television Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.
The explosions in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, early on the third day of 2026 — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the explosions.
It was not immediately clear if there were casualties on either side. The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and it was unclear if more actions lay ahead, though Trump said in his post that the strikes were carried out "successfully."
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban on U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace because of "ongoing military activity" ahead of the explosions.
The strike came after the Trump administration spent months escalating pressure on Maduro. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.
For months, Trump had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan land following months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs. Maduro has decried the U.S. military operations as a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power.
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 areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.
Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape sky as repeated muted explosions illuminated the night sky. Other footage showed an urban landscape with cars passing on a highway as blasts illuminated the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background.
The videos were verified by AP.
Smoke was seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.
"The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes," said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice trembling. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. "We felt like the air was hitting us."
Venezuela's government responded to the attack with a call to action. "People to the streets!" it said in a statement. "The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack."
The statement added that Maduro had "ordered all national defense plans to be implemented" and declared "a state of external disturbance." That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people's rights and expand the role of the armed forces.
The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to American citizens in the country, saying it was "aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas."
"U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place," the warning said.
The FAA warned all commercial and private U.S. pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the coast of the country to the north, was off limits "due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity."
Lee posted his potential concerns, reflecting a view from the right flank in the Congress. "I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force," Lee said on X.
The Armed Services committees in both houses of Congress, which have jurisdiction over military matters, have not been notified by the administration of any actions, according to a person familiar with the matter and granted anonymity to discuss it.
Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have raised deep reservations and flat out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling on boats near the Venezuelan coast and the Congress has not specifically approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the military action and seizure of Maduro marks "a new dawn for Venezuela," saying that "the tyrant is gone." He posted on X hours after the strike.
Cuba, a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the United States, called for the international community to respond to what president Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called "the criminal attack." "Our zone of peace is being brutally assaulted," he said on X. Iran's Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.
President Javier Milei of Argentina praised the claim by his close ally, Trump, that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often deploys to celebrate right-wing advances: "Long live freedom, dammit!"
The U.S. military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
They followed a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America, including the arrival in November of the nation'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 U.S. and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels.
The Tony Montana scene in the Caracas Palace Sure, 50 kg of blow, like, a bag of cement, a young girl on his lap, looking up in surprise as the Seal team enters the Presidential Office, the sneaky walks happening. I want to see the body-cam videos. He must have about had a sheet. CNN's intrepid journalists ' How Dare You ! '
In truth, I would have preferred a final end, a suitable finale, dragged through the streets of Caracas' barrio behind a Jeep. Deeth to the Dempartie_Nazi_Hamas_Cartel_Fraud_Communist_Klan ! Destroy the brain, or, remove the head ! ~ Shaun of the Dead '04
So Putin and the democratic party leadership in the US are upset. Why am I not surprised.
I was thinking along similar lines, earlier. The only people whining are the communists, and the Democrats. Especially Democrat congress-people. Who didn't see that coming?
Before anyone jumps in and says, "It's all about the oil!", I'll say... So?
US companies spent many millions in Venezuela, setting up infrastructure - wells, pipelines, shipping terminals, the whole nine yards. When they were finished, Maduro and his goons advised them that "they needed to leave, while they still could". They then nationalized the entire industry, under Maduro, of course.
The oil industry was one of the "olive branches" that Maduro offered Trump a day or so ago, after he saw the writing on the wall. But that doesn't change the fact that Maduro is still a criminal. Too bad, so sad.
The oil industry was one of the "olive branches" that Maduro offered Trump a day or so ago, after he saw the writing on the wall. But that doesn't change the fact that Maduro is still a criminal.
Perhaps Trump and Maduro can be cell mates one day.
Man, I saw so many people cheering and partying in the streets of Doral on videos... this is where I used to work, and half the gatherings were in front of restaurants I've eaten at for lunch during work. I'd love to have been down there yesterday when this was going on. Even here in Tampa, you have people partying...
quote
Originally posted by Doug85GT:
Putin is very unhappy about this. Russia has called for meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
"For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States," it begins.
"NICOLAS MADURO MOROS, the defendant, is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States. Since his early days in Venezuelan government, MADURO MOROS has tarnished every public office he has held. As a member of Venezuela's National Assembly, MADURO MOROS moved loads of cocaine under the protection of Venezuelan law enforcement. As Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs, MADURO MOROS provided Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela. As Venezuela's President and now-de facto ruler, MADURO MOROS allows cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit, for the benefit of members of his ruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members.
"NICOLAS MADURO MOROS, the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking. That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela's political and military elite, including Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace DIOSDADO CABELLO RONDON, the defendant, and former Minister of the Interior and Justice RAMON RODRIGUEZ CHACIN, the defendant. That massive-scale drug trafficking has also concentrated power and wealth in the hands of MADURO MOROS's family, including his wife, the purported First Lady of Venezuela CILIA ADELA FLORES DE MADURO, the defendant, and MADURO MOROS's son, member of Venezuela's National Assembly NICOLAS ERNESTO MADURO GUERRA, a/k/a "Nicolasito," a/k/a "The Prince," the defendant. This cycle of narcotics-based corruption lines the pockets of Venezuelan officials and their families while also benefiting violent narco-terrorists who operate with impunity on Venezuelan soil and who help produce, protect, and transport tons of cocaine to the United States.
"At various times since in or about 1999, Venezuelan officials, including NICOLAS MADURO MOROS, DIOSDADO CABELLO RONDON, and RAMON RODRIGUEZ CHACIN, the defendants, have partnered with narco-terrorists from the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia ("F ARC"), Ejercito de Liberaci6n Nacional ("ELN"), the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas, and Tren de Aragua ("TdA"), including TdA's leader, HECTOR RUSTHENFORD GUERRERO FLORES, a/k/a "Nifio Guerrero," the defendant. In sum, MADURO MOROS and his co-conspirators have, for decades, partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world, and relied on corrupt officials throughout the region, to distribute tons of cocaine to the United States," the charges read.
I have doubts that the US will get control of Venezuelan oil and am not sure they should anyway. World court, here we come... Remember COOL, when Canada and Old Mexico said the US Country of Origin Labeling law made their products somehow look bad?
I have doubts that the US will get control of Venezuelan oil and am not sure they should anyway. World court, here we come... Remember COOL, when Canada and Old Mexico said the US Country of Origin Labeling law made their products somehow look bad?
Isn't a percentage of our oil imported, even now? This might change the percentages a bit. Otherwise..? But if we "control" the oil we could also, I would suppose, sell it to Europe or other places.
But I don't see us just taking all their oil, anyway. With that said, our oil companies - and our country - should get some benefit from having built out all their infrastructure, before Maduro seized it. Am I incorrect in that statement? You're in a better position to know that than I am. What were the original agreements? There had to have been some agreements drawn up, beforehand. (Treaties? I don't know.)
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 01-04-2026).]
Putin is very unhappy about this. Russia has called for meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
I suspect that this is all a charade, and that Putin is actually quite delighted.
As if there was any remaining doubt that Trump supports his buddy Putin's invasion of Ukraine, now it's more than obvious to the whole world that the US (under Trump) won't lift a finger to assist Ukraine. By invading Venezuela and kidnapping their president, Trump has made it clear that international law means nothing to him. He's taking full advantage of his power to benefit himself and his cronies. As Ray has said here many times, follow the money.
I suspect that this is all a charade, and that Putin is actually quite delighted.
As if there was any remaining doubt that Trump supports his buddy Putin's invasion of Ukraine, now it's more than obvious to the whole world that the US (under Trump) won't lift a finger to assist Ukraine. By invading Venezuela and kidnapping their president, Trump has made it clear that international law means nothing to him. He's taking full advantage of his power to benefit himself and his cronies. As Ray has said here many times, follow the money.
Everything that President Trump does that does not fit your view of him is deception. President Trump is both an idiot and a master of deception at the same time, according to you.
I suspect that this is all a charade, and that Putin is actually quite delighted.
As if there was any remaining doubt that Trump supports his buddy Putin's invasion of Ukraine, now it's more than obvious to the whole world that the US (under Trump) won't lift a finger to assist Ukraine. By invading Venezuela and kidnapping their president, Trump has made it clear that international law means nothing to him. He's taking full advantage of his power to benefit himself and his cronies. As Ray has said here many times, follow the money.
Patrick, you're not even smart enough to argue with. I truly don't know why people waste their time with you, and rayb for that matter.
President Trump is both an idiot and a master of deception at the same time, according to you.
No, definitely not according to me. If we temporarily ignore him being a total POS, Trump is a master of nothing. He has a legion of suck-ups currently catering to him, but this will eventually pass as they witness his inevitable downfall.
I suspect that this is all a charade, and that Putin is actually quite delighted.
"Russia! Russia! Russia!" There are people being investigated and/or charged for that farce. But keep beating that horse. Not only is it dead, it's been pummeled level with the ground, by now.
Russia is (was?) a trading partner/ally of Venezuela. I suppose that he IS pissed. Even though our reasons and actions are quite different, Putin's got no room to complain.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 01-04-2026).]
Even though our reasons and actions are quite different...
Maybe, maybe not. As Ray says... follow the money.
quote
Originally posted by Raydar:
Putin's got no room to complain.
I'm sure there are a few economical reasons why Putin why doesn't like what's occurred in Venezuela, but overall, I suspect he's quite pleased (for reasons given Here). For Putin, the upside far outweighs the downside of Maduro being deposed.
Well, this is interesting. *I have not verified any of this, but I wanted to place it somewhere, before Farcebook decides to censor it.* ... *Edit - I looked in all the usual places and haven't found anything. I'll keep looking. Please feel free to do the same.
*2nd Edit - Nevermind. Bogus.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 01-05-2026).]
Well, this is interesting. *I have not verified any of this, but I wanted to place it somewhere, before Farcebook decides to censor it.*
I did some digging, and discovered that this was originally posted on Facebook on December 9th (and it's still there). Seems that this bombshell of a news release has had all the impact of a wet firecracker... probably because it's totally bogus.
Phil Robertson... The Duck Commander Too funny, Raydar... too funny!
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-04-2026).]
Well, this is interesting. *I have not verified any of this, but I wanted to place it somewhere, before Farcebook decides to censor it.*
From Phil Robertson. [i] Venezuela’s former Chief of National Intelligence Hugo Carvajal has OFFICIALLY RELEASED every U.S. Senator who is on THE VENEZUELA LIST of politicians who have been receiving MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN KICKBACKS from the Maduro regime and Venezuelan drug trafficking organizations that make up his government in exchange for using their government positions and influence to undermine President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s ongoing war with these narcoterrorists. Every one of these Senators is guilty of providing aid and comfort to THE ENEMY during a time of war and has the blood of their fellow American citizens. (HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of whom die of drug overdoses every year at the hands of these criminal drug trafficking organizations that bring deadly drugs into our country) on their hands.
*Edit - I looked in all the usual places and haven't found anything. I'll keep looking. Please feel free to do the same.
I'm guessing this is probably not true... as it would be really, really bad if it were. Things like this are easily tracked, which is why I think it's likely propaganda, and not because I wouldn't put it past these senators.
Despite "claims" circulating on social media, these allegations are unverified, and lack any official documentation or credible sources to substantiate them.
I guess Patrick has never seen Duck Dynasty. I can't imagine it would be popular in Canada.
But, allllrighty then. It was more than a little bit suspect even when I posted it - and I pretty much said as much - but was important if it was real. So... ya' got me. Removed.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 01-05-2026).]
A summary of the recent history of Maduro's regime. It was a complete disaster.
TLDW: Hyperinflation, 90%+ poverty, massive blackouts, water utility failures, even the oil production was down 90%, mass starvation. It was not really even a country anymore. It was a husk run by a cartel pretending to be a government. In the end Maduro couldn't even pay the military anymore to protect his power. Destroying the drug boats made it impossible to keep paying the military to keep him in power.
[This message has been edited by Doug85GT (edited 01-05-2026).]
Too funny, Raydar... too funny!
Nothing like a reputable news source, eh! Waytago, Raydar! 
