JUST IN: VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT; MADURO AND WIFE CAPTURED BY US FORCES
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By ‘Leke Yusuf
United States special forces, named Delta Force, on Saturday morning, captured Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro.
The announcement was made by US President Donald Trump, via his social media handle.
It was learnt that Maduro and his wife were taken out in a boat.
President Trump said on Saturday that the United States had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and was flying him out of Venezuela, in what would be a stunning culmination to a monthslong campaign by Mr. Trump’s administration to oust the authoritarian leader.
Mr. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, his social media platform, and said that the United States had carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” in an operation that was conducted “in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.”
The government of Venezuela earlier accused the United States of carrying out military attacks on Saturday in the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country, after large explosions were reported at a military base in the city.
A U.S. official said there were no American casualties in the operation but would not comment on Venezuelan casualties.
If President Trump’s claim is true, the Venezuelan constitution states that power would pass to Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who runs economic policy. But we are in uncharted territory and it is unclear who would end up in charge. The United States has not recognized Maduro as a legitimate president, and Venezuela’s opposition says the rightful president is the exiled politician Edmundo Gonzalez.
In a brief phone interview with The Times, President Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture Maduro. “A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” Trump said. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
When asked if he had sought congressional authority for the operation or what is next for Venezuela, Trump said he would address those matters during his news conference at Mar-a-Lago in the morning.
Venezuela’s defense minister, Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez, in a national address, denounces what he called a U.S. attack. “This invasion represents the most blatant outrage suffered by the country,” he says. This is the first public appearance by a senior Venezuelan official since the start of the explosions. General Padrino Lopez is Venezuela’s top ranking officer and is seen as a crucial member of Maduro’s coalition.
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