Chicago – January 03, 2025
US President Donald Trump has announced that US forces have captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a sweeping overnight military operation and that Washington will temporarily “run” the country until a new leadership is in place.
Strike and capture
US air and special forces struck multiple sites in and around Caracas and other Venezuelan states in the early hours of Saturday, following months of escalating tensions and military deployments in the Caribbean.
Trump said elite units apprehended Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were then flown out of Venezuela to a US warship and are expected to face narcoterrorism-related charges in New York.
Trump’s pledge to “run” Venezuela
In a news conference and social media posts, Trump declared that the US is “going to run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” framing the intervention as part of a wider campaign against drug cartels.
US officials have indicated that a team of senior figures, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will oversee coordination with Venezuelan actors as Washington seeks to shape a post-Maduro political order.
Global reaction and legal questions
Regional governments, UN officials and rights advocates have warned that the operation sets a “dangerous precedent,” drawing parallels with past US interventions such as the 1989 invasion of Panama.
Legal experts and members of US Congress are questioning the domestic and international legal basis for the strikes and the seizure of a sitting foreign leader, with new war powers challenges expected in Washington.
