Overview
- President Donald Trump said U.S. forces conducted attacks in Venezuela and that Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores were captured and formally charged in the Southern District of New York.
- Large celebrations by Venezuelans abroad filled streets from Doral, Florida, to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol—where authorities estimated about 2,500 people—as well as Buenos Aires, Lima, Bogotá and Santiago.
- Counterprotests condemned the intervention, with hundreds gathering outside the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, where organizers reported graffiti and a stone thrown and authorities deployed roughly 250 officers.
- Expatriates expressed both relief and worry, voicing hopes of return and reconstruction alongside concerns about civilian safety and sovereignty; some community leaders described the operation as surgical, a claim not independently verified.
- Reports circulated that Maduro was moved to U.S. soil and federal custody, including accounts of an arrival at Stewart International Airport and transfer to Manhattan, but these details remain developing.