President Trump announces detention of Venezuelan President Maduro – THISDAYLIVE

After months of pressure with accusations of drug trafficking and corruption in power, President Donald Trump said the United States attacked Venezuela and detained longtime President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday.
The US government has not intervened so directly in Latin America since it invaded Panama in 1989 to oust military leader Manuel Noriega over similar allegations.
“The United States has successfully launched a major attack on Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been detained and exiled along with his wife,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Prior to the overnight attack, the United States had accused Maduro of running a “narcostate” and rigging last year’s election, which rebels claimed was a landslide victory. The Venezuelan leader, who succeeded Hugo Chávez to power in 2013, has said the U.S. government wants control of the South American nation’s oil reserves, the world’s largest.
Venezuela’s government said civilians and military personnel were killed in the airstrikes, but did not give figures.
President Trump said the operation was carried out “in coordination with U.S. law enforcement” and promised further details at an 11 a.m. (16:00 GMT) news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Mr. Maduro was captured by an elite unit of special forces, a U.S. official told Reuters. Republican Sen. Mike Lee said Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Maduro he would face criminal charges in the United States.
Rubio “expects no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody,” Lee wrote to X.
Noriega was eventually sentenced to 20 years in prison for the Panama incident.
Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who could lead Venezuela’s government, said she did not know the whereabouts of President Maduro and his wife.
“I call on the government of President Donald Trump to immediately provide proof of the survival of President Maduro and the first lady,” Rodriguez said in an audio broadcast on state television.
While Latin American governments oppose President Maduro and claim he stole the 2024 election, direct U.S. action brings back painful memories of past interventions and is strongly opposed by governments and peoples across the region.
President Trump’s actions are reminiscent of the Monroe Doctrine, in which President James Monroe asserted U.S. influence in the region in 1823, and the “gunboat diplomacy” seen under Theodore Roosevelt in the early 1900s.
The Venezuelan opposition, led by recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Colina Machado, said in a statement on X that it had no official comment on the incident.
Explosions occurred early Saturday morning in Venezuela’s capital Caracas and elsewhere, prompting Maduro’s government to declare a national emergency and mobilize the military. It also announced attacks in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
Explosions, aircraft and black smoke were visible across Caracas for about 90 minutes starting around 2 a.m. (6 p.m. local time), Reuters witnesses and images circulating on social media said.
Residents expressed shock and horror as they captured videos of plumes of smoke and orange flashes in the sky. “My love, look at that,” a woman says in the video, as she gasps at the sound of explosions in the distance.
Carmen Marquez, 50, who lives in the eastern part of the capital, said that when she went to the roof of her house, she could not see the planes but could hear them at various altitudes.
“We saw a flash of light across the sky, like a flare, and then we heard an explosion. We are worried about what will happen next. We have no information from the government, only reports on state television,” she said.
Witnesses said the power outage affected southern areas of Caracas near a major military base. Local media affiliated with the ruling Socialist Party reported explosions near military bases in Fuerte Tiuna and La Carlota.
“It’s a new dawn for Venezuela! The tyrant is gone,” US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote to X.
Venezuela’s allies Russia, Cuba and Iran immediately condemned the attack. The Iranian government called it a “blatant violation of national sovereignty and territorial integrity” and called on the UN Security Council to intervene to stop the “unlawful invasion.”
The United States, Venezuela’s opposition and other countries allege that Maduro rigged last year’s election to stay in power. He said there was a Western conspiracy to illegally deport him.
Trump has repeatedly promised land operations in the South American oil-producing nation and on Monday said it would be “wise” for Maduro to leave office.
The Venezuelan government said in a statement before Trump’s announcement that the goal of the attack was to give the United States access to the country’s oil and minerals.
The United States has undertaken a major military buildup in the region, deploying aircraft carriers, warships, and state-of-the-art fighter jets in the Caribbean.
President Trump has called for a “blockade” of Venezuelan oil, expanded sanctions against Maduro’s government and attacked more than two dozen vessels that the United States says are involved in drug trafficking in the Pacific and Caribbean.
President Trump has accused Venezuela of flooding the United States with drugs, and his administration has been bombing ships suspected of carrying drugs for months. Many countries have condemned the attack as an extrajudicial killing, and Maduro’s government has always denied involvement in drug trafficking.
It is unclear under what legal authority the recent US attacks were carried out. Legal experts have questioned the legality of attacks on drug smuggling vessels in the region that have so far killed more than 110 people.
Trump’s actions risk a backlash from the US Congress, which has the constitutional right to declare war, and from his own political base, which supports an “America First” policy and largely opposes military intervention abroad.
MST Marquee analyst Saul Kavonic said oil prices are likely to rise sharply in the short term on supply risks, but that U.S. aggression could weaken in the medium term if Venezuela’s new government lifts sanctions and restarts foreign investment. (Reuters)