Overview
- President Donald Trump announced a large-scale operation that he said captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife and removed them from the country.
- U.S. justice officials said the pair will face federal charges in the United States, including narcoterrorism and a cocaine import conspiracy, with proceedings in U.S. courts.
- Reports describe Delta Force raiding Caracas’s Fort Tiuna and flying the couple by Black Hawk helicopters to the USS Iwo Jima, and the White House released an image showing Maduro blindfolded and restrained aboard the ship.
- Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the government does not know Maduro’s whereabouts, condemned what it called serious military aggression, demanded evidence he is alive, and authorities claimed strikes hit residential areas as forces were mobilized.
- International responses varied, with Russia and Iran condemning the U.S. action and Spain, the EU, and the U.K. urging restraint, while Colombia’s president called for urgent OAS and UN meetings and ordered troops to the border; Trump hinted at further planning as a senator quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying no additional strikes are planned.