The United States dramatically seized control of Venezuela yesterday after capturing the country’s president as he tried to hide inside a panic room.
On a day that stunned the world, Donald Trump said the US would now ‘run the country’ until a proper transition of power could be arranged. He added that American oil companies would be sent to Venezuela to fix the infrastructure ‘and start making money for the country’.
In an extraordinary early-hours assault, US special forces dropped from helicopters directly into President Nicolas Maduro’s compound – Fort Tiuna – in the centre of Caracas as fighter jets launched air strikes across the capital.
After overcoming dozens of armed guards during a ferocious gun battle, the elite Delta Force reached Maduro as he fled from his bedroom with his wife Cilia Flores. ‘He made it to the door [of the panic room], he was unable to close it,’ said Mr Trump.
Watching the drama unfold from his Florida home, Mr Trump likened it to ‘a television show’ and suggested the military operation was the greatest since the Second World War.
It was not clear how the US proposed running Venezuela or whether it would involve an occupying military force, although Mr Trump said he was not afraid of putting ‘boots on the ground‘.
Described as a ‘narco-terrorist’ by the US, Maduro and his wife will face trial in New York charged with drugs and weapons offences.
The 63-year-old dictator, whose regime was blamed for thousands of extrajudicial executions, was being held last night at a detention centre in Brooklyn. Earlier he was pictured on board the USS Iwo Jima wearing a blindfold and ear defenders.
US special forces dropped from helicopters directly into President Nicolas Maduro’s compound – Fort Tiuna – in the centre of Caracas as fighter jets launched air strikes across the capital
Armed supporters of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro gather near the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas
The 63-year-old dictator, whose regime was blamed for thousands of extrajudicial executions, was being held last night at a detention centre in Brooklyn
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Venezuela was experiencing a ‘new dawn’ adding: ‘The tyrant is gone. He will now – finally – face justice for his crimes.’
Also yesterday it emerged that:
- A CIA spy in Caracas tracked Maduro’s movements to facilitate the raid – and got so close to the dictator that he even knew what type of food he gave his pets;
- US special forces spent weeks rehearsing Maduro’s capture in a specially made replica of his presidential compound;
- Maduro spoke to Trump last week but refused his request to quit peacefully;
- Trump declined to seek authority from the US Congress as he feared the operation would be leaked;
- He issued warnings to Cuba and Colombia after the raid, saying the latter’s president should ‘watch his ass’ as his country was smuggling cocaine to the US.
Britain and France welcomed Maduro’s capture, with Keir Starmer calling him an illegitimate leader and saying, ‘we shed no tears about the end of his regime’.
President Emmanuel Macron said the Venezuelan people are ‘rid of Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship and can only rejoice. By seizing power and trampling on fundamental freedoms, [he] gravely undermined the dignity of his own people.’
The elite Delta Force reached Maduro as he fled from his bedroom with his wife Cilia Flores
Helicopters fly past plumes of smoke rising from explosions, in Caracas
Trump shared a picture of Maduro in US captivity on his platform, Truth Social
A destroyed anti-aircraft unit at La Carlota military air base in Caracas
But Russia called Maduro’s arrest an ‘act of armed aggression’ – and China accused the US of violating international law and threatening ‘peace and security’ in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Addressing a news conference, a triumphant Donald Trump said ‘armed forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela, [with] overwhelming American military power. Air, land and sea was used to launch a spectacular assault, and it was an assault like people have not seen since World War Two.’
More than 150 bombers, fighters and reconnaissance aircraft were used in the raid, during which Caracas was plunged into darkness. American forces dismantled and disabled air defences ‘to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters’ used to extract Nicolas Maduro.
Meanwhile the air strikes on Caracas in the early hours of yesterday morning, including at military bases, lit up the night sky.
The US helicopters came under fire as they approached the Venezuelan leader’s compound around 2am local time – 6am UK time. One was hit but continued flying.
Mr Trump said the Venezuelan leader’s vice-president Delcy Rodriguez, was now in power, but that she had promised to do ‘anything’ the US wants. However she contradicted that assertion by rejecting US intervention and demanding Maduro’s return.
Earlier, Venezuela’s state-run television was broadcasting rallies and protests across several cities, including Caracas. Maduro’s supporters vowed to defend their country from what they described as an illegal attack and the kidnapping of their leader.
At his news conference, Mr Trump said the ‘people standing behind me’ – who included Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth – would help run the country.
And he issued a warning that ‘all political and military figures [in Venezuela] should bear in mind that what happened to Maduro could happen to them’.
Donald Trump said the US would now ‘run the country’ until a proper transition of power could be arranged
Asked if the US military will maintain a presence in Venezuela, Trump said: ‘Well, no, we’re going to have presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil.’ (Stock image)
A second wave of attacks on the nation could take place if needed, he added. Asked if the US military will maintain a presence in Venezuela, he added: ‘Well, no, we’re going to have presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil.’
Mr Rubio said Maduro was seen as an ‘illegitimate president’ by multiple administrations. He’s a fugitive of American justice with a $50 million reward,’ before joking: ‘I guess we saved $50 million’.
He added: ‘Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this, he was provided multiple very, very, very generous offers and chose instead to act like a wild man.’
Maduro set the tone for his socialist presidency when he said in 2013 that anyone who voted against him would fall victim to an ancient curse. It was dismissed as crazy rhetoric at the time but the former bus driver’s regime was later accused of using ‘death squads’ to instil terror in his opponents.
Hyperinflation and chronic shortages saw the country’s economy collapse under his rule. Amid rigged elections and harsh crackdowns on protests., millions of Venezuelans fled abroad.
Soon he was ranked as one of the world’s worst dictators, though not everyone considered him a pariah. He counted former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as a friend.
Maduro saw himself as the ‘son’ of Hugo Chavez, his predecessor, who became a flamboyant emblem of anti-Americanism.
