Overview
- Nighttime air and special‑operations strikes hit bases, airfields, communications nodes and ports in and around Caracas, with witnesses reporting explosions, fires and low‑flying aircraft.
- U.S. officials said elite forces conducted the capture with extensive air support involving roughly 150 aircraft, and Trump said he watched the raid and reported no U.S. combat deaths.
- Venezuela declared a state of emergency, alleged military and civilian casualties, and requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting to condemn what it calls an illegal attack.
- The Justice Department said Maduro and his wife face charges in the Southern District of New York, while Trump published an image of Maduro in custody after being moved out of the country.
- International responses diverged as the EU urged respect for international law, Russia, Iran and Cuba denounced the strikes, and U.S. officials signaled no further attacks are planned while Trump invited U.S. oil firms to restart operations in Venezuela.