By Curtis Yee, Hrvoje Hranjski and Bridget Brown
The Associated Press
The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Jan. 3 and said its president and first lady had been captured and flown out of the country after months of intense pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s government — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.
The legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear.
The stunning, lightning-fast American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would face charges after an indictment in New York.
Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET and said he would host a news conference at 11 a.m. ET.
Here’s what we know so far:
- Who now controls Venezuela?: With Maduro’s whereabouts unknown, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez would take power under Venezuelan law. There was no confirmation that had happened, though she did issue a statement demanding the U.S. provide “proof of life” for Maduro and Flores.
- Explosions in Caracas: The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and the explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they’d seen and heard. It was not known if there were any deaths or injuries on either side.
- U.S. military action in South America: Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September. As of Friday, the Trump administration said it had struck 35 alleged drug boats and killed at least 115 people in the attacks.
European leaders react to Maduro’s capture by the U.S.
- EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X that she had spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the EU ambassador in Caracas. “The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition. Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint.”
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for “de-escalation and responsibility. International Law and the principles of the United Nations Charter must be respected,” Sánchez wrote on X.
- Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it is “extremely alarmed” and called for “immediate clarification,” according to a statement posted Saturday on the ministry’s Telegram channel. The ministry said such actions, if confirmed, would constitute “an unacceptable infringement on the sovereignty of an independent state.”
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. was not involved in the U.S. operation in Venezuela and that he would seek more information from Trump. Without condemning the U.S. action, Starmer said he always believes that international law should be upheld. “But I think at this stage, fast moving situation, let’s establish the facts and take it from there,” he said.
Reactions in Caracas to U.S. strikes and Maduro’s capture are mixed
At a pro-Maduro protest in the capital, Caracas Mayor Carmen Meléndez joined a crowd that demanded that Maduro be returned immediately.
“Maduro, hold on, the people are rising up!” the crowd chanted. They also said: “We are here Nicolás Maduro. If you can hear us, we are here!” Elsewhere, residents were still taking in the events.
“How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking down at his phone. “Venezuelans woke up scared, many families couldn’t sleep. I have been on the street, I just got back from Maracay, everything is blocked, everything is bad, very bad.”
“They impose the law,” electrician Alfonso Valdez said about the U.S. government. “They are the police of the world … they are assassins.”
In South Florida, Venezuelans celebrated the news of Maduro’s capture at a rally held outside a South American eatery.
People wrapped themselves in Venezuelan flags, ate fried snacks and cheered as music was playing at the event. At one point, the crowd chanted “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!”
The rally took place in Doral, Florida, a city of 80,000 people surrounded by Miami sprawl and home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States.
Venezuelan opposition leader Machado’s spokespeople decline comment
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s spokespeople declined to comment on the U.S. operation.
Machado was last seen in public last month, when she emerged from 11 months in hiding and traveled to Norway, where she was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.
U.S. attorney general says Maduro and wife to face criminal charges
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says Maduro and his wife will face criminal charges after an indictment in New York.
Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple will “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
Maduro was indicted in 2020 in New York, but it was not previously known that his wife had been.
U.S. indicted Maduro on narcoterrorism charges in 2020
The Justice Department during Trump’s first term in office charged in the several indictments that Maduro had effectively converted Venezuela into a criminal enterprise at the service of drug traffickers and terrorist groups as he and his allies stole billions from the South American country.
The coordinated unsealing of indictments against 14 officials and government-connected individuals, and rewards of $55 million for Maduro and four others, attacked all the key planks of what then-Attorney General William Barr called the “corrupt Venezuelan regime,” including the Maduro-dominated judiciary and the powerful armed forces.
One indictment by prosecutors in New York accused Maduro and socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello, head of the rubber-stamping constitutional assembly, of conspiring with Colombian rebels and members of the military “to flood the United States with cocaine” and use the drug trade as a “weapon against America.”
Sen. Lee says Rubio told him he anticipates no further action in Venezuela
Utah Sen. Mike Lee said Rubio informed him that “he anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody,” the lawmaker posted on social media.
Colombia prepares to receive refugees from Venezuela
President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, one of Trump’s fiercest critics, said the Colombian government convened a national security meeting before dawn Saturday and sent security forces to the border in preparation for a potential “massive influx of refugees” from neighboring Venezuela.
He said he’d also call on the U.N. Security Council to consider “the aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and of Latin America.”
“Without sovereignty, there is no nation,” Petro wrote on social media.
Russia calls U.S. action ‘an act of armed aggression’
Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a U.S. “act of armed aggression” against Venezuela in a statement posted on its Telegram channel Saturday.
“Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive, let alone military, outside intervention,” the statement said.
The ministry called for dialogue to prevent further escalation and said it reaffirmed its “solidarity” with the Venezuelan people and government, adding that Russia supports calls for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting.
AP Photo/Matias Delacroix
State Department urges Americans in Venezuela to shelter in place
The State Department issued a new travel alert early Saturday warning Americans in Venezuela urging them to “shelter in place” due to the situation.
“U.S. Embassy Bogota is aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas, Venezuela,” it said without elaboration.
“The U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, warns U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela. U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place.” The embassy in Bogota has been shuttered since March, 2019 but operates remotely.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio retweeted Trump’s announcement without comment, but his deputy, Christopher Landau, posted Trump’s statement, adding that it marked “a new dawn for Venezuela!” “The tyrant is gone. He will now—finally—face justice for his crimes,” Landau said.
Venezuelan VP demands proof of life for Maduro
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez says, “We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.”
He added: “We demand proof of life.”
The streets of Caracas
Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other areas of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without power, but vehicles moved freely.
Eric Tucker, Suman Naishadham, Regina Garcia Cano, Matthew Lee, Elise Morton and Isabel Debre contributed to this report.