US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro early Saturday morning, following months of escalating tensions between the Trump administration and Venezuela. The capture came after a large-scale strike against Venezuela, conducted in conjunction with US law enforcement, according to President Trump.
A special forces raid in the dead of night
After reports of explosions and low-flying aircraft in Venezuela’s capital, Mr. Trump announced on his Truth Social site that the US had carried out a “large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader.” Early reports indicate significant air strikes on military installations in Caracas, with the Venezuelan government saying three nearby states — Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira — were also targeted.
US officials said the US Army’s Delta Force conducted a raid to capture Mr. Maduro, who Mr. Trump says has since been “flown out of the country.” The US president did not provide details as to where or for what purpose Mr. Maduro might have been taken, but the involvement of “law enforcement” agencies suggests the Trump administration intends to try the Venezuelan leader on narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges, for which he was indicted in the Southern District of New York in 2020.
There were no American casualties during the raid, officials said, but the question of Venezuelan casualties remains unanswered.
The sudden capture of the Venezuelan leader appears to have been anticipated by some in the Venezuelan government, including Mr. Maduro himself. He reportedly frequently changed where he slept and rotated through mobile phones in the months leading up to the attack, anticipating a potential precision strike on his residence or a special forces raid. He also expanded the role of Cuban bodyguards and counterintelligence officers in his inner circle, to reduce the risk of betrayal by Venezuelan officials.
In the days prior to the attack, Mr. Maduro attempted to reach out to the Trump administration, floating the prospect of working together to combat drug trafficking. This followed reports in October that Venezuelan officials had proposed a managed exit for Mr. Maduro, in which he would step down in three years’ time — a proposal the White House reportedly rejected.
Drug war put a target on Maduro’s back
Recent White House rhetoric has focused on Venezuela’s alleged role in trafficking drugs into the United States, but personal tensions between the two presidents have also been escalating for close to a decade.
Mr. Maduro rose to power in 2013 following the death of Hugo Chavez and led the country through years of political turbulence. In 2017, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Venezuelan oil, amid claims of a humanitarian crisis unfolding under Mr. Maduro’s leadership. A year later, Mr. Trump labelled Mr. Maduro’s re-election a “sham,” a view shared by much of the international community.
A similar situation unfolded in 2024 when Mr. Maduro was re-elected, and Mr. Trump continues to say the Venezuelan regime “systemically undermines democratic institutions” by suppressing free and fair elections and consolidating power illegitimately.
During his 2024 election campaign, Mr. Trump pledged to stop the importation of dangerous drugs such as fentanyl into the US from countries including Mexico and China — and since taking office, he has used drug trafficking as his primary justification for amping up pressure on Venezuela.
In March last year, Mr. Trump signed a proclamation designating the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The Trump administration also alleged Mr. Maduro was the quasi-leader of another US-listed Foreign Terrorist Organization — the Cártel de los Soles, which the White House claims he funded to carry out its objective of using illegal narcotics as a weapon.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Venezuela released prisoners from its jails who then relocated into the US. Mr. Maduro has always denied any involvement in crime, and repeatedly claimed the US was pursuing regime change in a bid to control Venezuela’s natural resources.
The Trump administration used the allegations as a legal and political basis to support 35 military air strikes that have been launched since September on vessels accused of trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. At least 115 people have been killed in those strikes, according to figures released by the US military.
Massive military build-up led to raid, land strikes
In October, Mr. Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela. That decision coincided with the largest build-up of US military forces in the region since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the deployment of the USS Gerald R Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — with about 15,000 personnel to the region.
The carrier arrived on November 16 with its strike group, joining at least seven other warships, and a nuclear submarine. In response, Mr. Maduro led a public display of calling for peace while mobilizing 200,000 national military members and encouraging Venezuela’s civilian army — the Bolivarian Militia — to take up arms in the event of any foreign attack.
In recent months, Mr. Trump threatened to order US military strikes on targets on Venezuelan soil. On December 30, a drone strike was launched on a docking area Mr. Trump said was used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct land operation in the country. Within days, the US’s military presence in the region extended further into Venezuela and resulted in the capture of the country’s president.
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