President Donald Trump said the US had captured Venezuela’s strongman leader Nicolás Maduro and flown him out of the country after weeks of rising tension between the nations.
In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump announced the move, which appeared to mark the first time the US had captured a Latin American leader in more than three decades, and confirmed US strikes on Venezuela.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” he wrote.
The post followed reports that Caracas was hit by multiple explosions and that dozens of aircraft had flown over the capital early on Saturday.
US attorney-general Pam Bondi later wrote on X that Maduro and his wife had been indicted in a federal court in New York and were facing charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi wrote.
The White House has raised pressure on Maduro’s regime in recent months, with Trump declaring this week a “total blockade” on US-sanctioned oil tankers heading to and from Venezuela.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the “Cartel of the Suns”, a criminal group trafficking cocaine to the US, and offered a $50mn reward for information leading to his capture. It regards him as an illegitimate leader.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, has been briefing lawmakers on the Venezuela strikes to fend off a backlash from Congress against the legality of the actions, which did not receive authorisation from Capitol Hill.
Republican senator Mike Lee of Utah posted on X that Maduro’s capture “likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect US personnel from an actual or imminent attack”.
Trump said that there would be a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort at 11am EST.
The US president has threatened strikes on targets on Venezuelan land for months, while the American military has attacked boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
About three dozen boat strikes have been conducted, killing more than 100 people, according to the Trump administration.
The attacks have taken place alongside a build-up of US forces in the Caribbean, including America’s largest aircraft carrier. Last month, the US also carried out a strike on a “dock area” in Venezuela.
Maduro had described the US naval build-up as a pretext for his ousting.
Videos posted on social media on Saturday morning showed a series of strikes at about 2am local time on Venezuela’s military complex Fuerte Tiuna in the west of Caracas, as well as an air base at La Carlota in the centre of the capital.
The operation to capture Maduro appeared to mark the first time that the US had deposed a Latin American leader since the 1989 invasion of Panama, when US forces overthrew dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been accused of drug trafficking. Noriega surrendered at the start of 1990.
It was not immediately clear who was in charge in Caracas after Maduro’s capture. Vice-president Delcy Rodríguez spoke by phone from an unknown location in a television broadcast, while interior minister Diosdado Cabello and defence minister Vladimir Padrino appeared in separate video broadcasts vowing defiance over the attack.
Padrino called the US actions an “invasion” and a “flagrant violation of international law”, motivated by “an insatiable greed for our strategic resources”.
Venezuela’s government urged its supporters to take to the streets following the strikes. It added that Maduro had “ordered all national defence plans to be implemented” and had declared a state of emergency.
Venezuela’s allies condemned the US actions on Saturday.
Russia’s foreign ministry said: “The United States committed an act of armed aggression against Venezuela. This is deeply concerning and condemnable. The excuses given to justify such actions are untenable.”
Bruno Rodríguez, Cuba’s foreign minister, said Havana “strongly condemned” the attacks as a “cowardly” act against a country that has not “attacked the US or any other nation”.
But Argentina’s right-wing President Javier Milei congratulated the US on capturing Maduro.
“Freedom advances. Long live freedom, damnit!” Milei, an ally of Trump, wrote on social media X, using his trademark slogan.
María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner, declined to comment.
The EU urged respect for international law and said it was closely monitoring developments in Venezuela.
“The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition,” Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s top diplomat, wrote on X after speaking to Rubio.
“Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint.”
The impact of the US actions on oil prices was unclear since markets are closed until Monday morning in Asia.
Saul Kavonic, an analyst at MST Financial, said any conflict might cause oil prices to jump on fears that roughly 800,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan oil exports could be affected.
He added, however, that regime change in the country could cause exports to eventually grow towards 3mn b/d as sanctions were lifted and foreign investment returned.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Saturday banned US commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace, citing “safety-of-flight risks” owing to “ongoing military activity”.
Additional reporting by Polina Ivanova in Berlin and Malcolm Moore in London