The war has begun: Venezuelan leader Maduro captured and flown out of Venezuela by US military

“US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that US forces have captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a large-scale strike.

 

“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike on Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who, along with his wife, has been arrested and flown out of the country,” Trump said on the social network Truth Social.

 

“This operation was carried out in conjunction with US law enforcement,” he added.

 

Trump said he would hold a press conference at 11 a.m. local time (6 p.m. Lithuanian time) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

 

The president praised the operation in a brief telephone interview with The New York Times.

 

“A lot of good planning, a lot of great, great soldiers and great people,” the newspaper quoted Trump as saying.

 

Trump’s stunning statement came after months of mounting U.S. military and economic pressure on leftist leader Maduro and his oil-dependent economy.

 

The U.S. president said in December that “it would be wise for (Maduro)” to step down, and has also said the Venezuelan leader’s days are numbered.

 

Trump’s announcement of Maduro’s ouster came two days after Maduro attempted to reach out to Trump, offering to cooperate on combating drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

 

Trump has based his campaign against Venezuela on a variety of arguments, including the claim that the country is a major exporter of drugs to the United States and that Venezuela has hijacked U.S. oil interests.

 

The Republican leader has not directly called for Maduro to be removed, but the U.S. government, along with many European countries, does not recognize the Venezuelan leader as legitimate.

 

A large naval and air force is deployed in the Caribbean, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships.

 

U.S. forces have seized two tankers at sea as part of a blockade of Venezuelan oil, and more than 100 people have been killed in airstrikes targeting small boats accused of drug trafficking.

 

On Monday, Trump told reporters that the United States had struck and destroyed a dock for suspected Venezuelan boats carrying drugs, the first known strike by the campaign on Venezuelan territory.”