U.S. forces carried out what President Donald Trump called a “large-scale strike against Venezuela” in the early hours of Saturday, with explosions reported in Caracas and other cities as Washington moved to capture President Nicolás Maduro amid a months-long confrontation over oil, drugs, and regional security. According to The New York Times, Trump said in a social media post that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been “captured and flown out of the country.” At the same time, Venezuelan officials accused the United States of “grave military aggression” against their territory.
Night of Explosions and a Sudden Power Vacuum
Residents in the Venezuelan capital reported loud blasts and low-flying aircraft shortly before dawn, as strikes hit targets in Caracas and at least three surrounding states, ABC News and other outlets reported. U.S. officials told CBS News that the operation included airstrikes on military facilities and a special forces mission by the Army’s Delta Force to seize Maduro.
In a statement carried by state media, Venezuela’s government condemned what it called “the grave military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America”. It said it had declared a “state of External Disturbance throughout the national territory.” As of Saturday morning, major outlets including the Associated Press and The New York Times noted that it remained unclear who was exercising effective control inside Venezuela or where Maduro was being held, despite Trump’s claim that he had been taken out of the country.
“They are currently bombing Caracas. Alert the whole world, they have attacked Venezuela.” — Colombian President Gustavo Petro on X.
Trump’s Justification and Earlier Escalation
Trump’s latest announcement follows months of escalating U.S. pressure that included naval deployments, seizures of oil tankers, and strikes on vessels Washington said were tied to drug trafficking networks linked to Maduro’s government. In mid-December, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Venezuela was “surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America” and warned that operations would continue “until they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”
CBS News, citing U.S. officials, reported that Trump had approved land strikes on Venezuela days before the operation, after military planners considered and then delayed potential attack windows over the Christmas period because of weather and competing missions. The Associated Press said the president planned to deliver further details at an 11 a.m. Eastern news conference, including what charges the U.S. intends to pursue against Maduro, who has long been under U.S. sanctions and faces drug trafficking indictments in American courts.
“The United States successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela,” Trump said in a statement quoted by ABC News.
Caracas Denounces “Imperialist Assault” as Allies React
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said in a televised address that the U.S. had hit both “military and residential areas” and announced a “massive deployment of all land, air, naval, riverine and missile capabilities” for national defense. He called on supporters to mobilize and warned against looting or disorder, saying the country faced “external commotion” but must avoid “anarchy and panic.”
Regional and global reactions came swiftly. Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the operation as an “assault on the sovereignty of Latin America” and predicted a looming humanitarian crisis on his country’s border. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned what he labeled a “criminal” U.S. attack and “state terrorism… against the Venezuelan people and against Our America,” urging an urgent international response, Al Jazeera and TRT World reported.
Russia and Iran, both allies of Caracas, also denounced the strikes as violations of international law and Venezuela’s territorial integrity, according to coverage by Euronews and El País. The Organization of American States and the U.N. Security Council faced growing calls from Latin American leaders to convene emergency sessions to address the crisis.
Strategic and Humanitarian Stakes
The U.S. decision to move from economic sanctions and maritime interdictions to direct strikes on Venezuelan territory marks the culmination of debates reported last year by The New York Times and The Washington Post over whether Trump should authorize attacks aimed at ousting Maduro. Analysts quoted in those earlier reports warned that any such action could destabilize a country already experiencing one of the world’s worst peacetime economic collapses, with more than 7 million Venezuelans having fled abroad in recent years.
Humanitarian agencies expressed concern that renewed fighting or internal power struggles could disrupt access to food, medicine, and basic services for millions. Neighboring governments, including Colombia and Brazil, have prepared contingency plans for a possible new wave of refugees and cross-border instability, Reuters and Deutsche Welle reported.
What Comes Next
As Washington celebrates the apparent capture of a long-standing adversary, key questions remain over Venezuela’s immediate political future, the legality of the operation under international law, and the risks of wider regional escalation. U.S. officials have not yet publicly outlined a transition framework or said whether they will recognize any interim authority in Caracas, leaving uncertainty over governance, security, and control of vital oil infrastructure.
International attention now turns to Trump’s planned briefing and to deliberations at the United Nations and in regional bodies, which must decide how to respond to the first large-scale U.S. strike on a Latin American capital in decades. Diplomats and analysts say the coming days will determine whether the operation leads to a negotiated political realignment in Venezuela or opens a new chapter of confrontation in a region already on edge.