Overview
- Overnight attacks targeted Caracas and the northern states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, with videos showing explosions at Fuerte Tiuna, La Guaira’s port and Higuerote airport as residents near the Miraflores palace were evacuated.
- Trump and U.S. officials say Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores were seized and taken out of Venezuela, with CBS reporting Delta Force involvement and a U.S. military source citing no American casualties.
- Opposition figures in exile told media the episode may have been a negotiated exit rather than a forcible raid, a claim not independently confirmed.
- The operation followed months of escalating U.S. pressure that included expanded sanctions, revocation of Chevron’s license, naval deployments and lethal interdictions of suspected narcotics vessels.
- Regional responses diverged, with Argentina’s Javier Milei celebrating, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro urging urgent UN and OAS meetings, and Cuba and former Bolivian president Evo Morales condemning the U.S. strikes.