Venezuela

Many world leaders whined Saturday over the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, claiming the clandestine US mission was an unnecessary use of force — despite a legal precedent for it.

Allies Russia, Iran, China and Colombia were among the nations lining up Saturday to demand the Trump administration release Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, who were headed to New York City to face federal charges of narcoterrorism.

NEW: Woman whose older brother was k*lled in Venezuela starts bawling, thanks President Trump for capturing Nicolás Maduro.

“So many years waiting for this,” she said in Miami, Florida.

“We’ve been here eight years now because they k*lled our older brother… they kidnapped my… pic.twitter.com/ABOpyxCPEr

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 3, 2026

Trump’s toppling of Maduro is fraught with risk – what happens next is unclear

The US may want many of its foes gone from power. It doesn’t usually send in the military and physically remove them.

Venezuela’s abrupt awakening took two forms.

Its residents were woken abruptly to the sound of deafening booms: the sound of its capital Caracas under attack from US strikes targeting military infrastructure.

Which world leaders have been captured by US previously

The reported capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has placed him among a small and controversial group of world leaders seized by the United States, reviving memories of past U.S. intervention that reshaped entire regions.

With his capture, Maduro would join figures such as Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Panama’s Manuel Noriega, whose arrests marked defining moments in US foreign policy.

It can’t be a coincidence that Trump captured Maduro while a Chinese delegation was still in Venezuela to meet with him.

Trump is making a clear statement.

He’s going after the cabal’s controlled puppets, the “paper tigers”.

Imagine all the military ops we never hear about. pic.twitter.com/fsmg4diZmk

— Kab (@Kabamur_Taygeta) January 3, 2026

Maduro Perp Walk

Maduro perp walk. pic.twitter.com/e1Maaun5EK

— Paul Mauro (@PaulDMauro) January 4, 2026

h/t Mauser

President Donald Trump joined Fox & Friends Saturday morning to discuss the U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

President Trump praised U.S. forces who participated in the execution and planning of the operation, saying that “no other country on Earth could pull it off”

… After Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the U.S. operation, President Trump issued a stern rebuttal.

.@POTUS: “She’s a good woman, but the cartels are running Mexico. She’s not running Mexico — the cartels are running Mexico.” https://t.co/YQOjteYLHi pic.twitter.com/ciCN3m33Vd

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026

Obama and Clinton did not seek congressional authorization to wage an 8-month long war in Libya.

“We came, we saw, he died,” they chortled as they violated the War Powers Resolution.

pic.twitter.com/3zBxL2YYp8

— Bluesky Libs (@BlueskyLibs) January 3, 2026

The Venezuelan dictator was in a supposed safe house when the Delta Force commandos burst in just after 2am and snatched him and his wife, before his security team had time to secure the property’s final defence of two heavy steel doors. Even if they had, the Americans were armed with blowtorches.

Within minutes Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores were being flown by helicopter across a moonlit Caribbean Sea to the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship. They are expected to be sent to a New

York federal detention centre before facing trial on drug trafficking charges.
The swiftness of the capture has led to speculation that Maduro may have been betrayed by someone in his inner circle. His personal security was understood to have been overseen by Cuba.

Trump says US oil companies will spend billions in Venezuela to revive their infrastructure.
For Canada, this means we can kiss capital investments in our industry goodbye. That is unless China comes looking for out oil, but a pivot to China is dangerous. pic.twitter.com/aqLtKaD1ya

— Brian Lilley (@brianlilley) January 3, 2026

The US has captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro after a large scale strike on the South American country, US President Donald Trump has said.

Trump said Venezuela’s left-wing president and his wife were flown out of the country in a military operation in conjunction with US law enforcement. They have been charged with drug and weapons offences in New York.

It comes after explosions were reported across the capital Caracas in the early hours of Saturday morning, including at military bases.

BBC live feed – US launches strikes on Venezuela, captures President Maduro and charges him with drug offences

CBS Live Feed – U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela, Trump says Maduro captured and flown out of the country

Venezuelans gather in Chilean capital to celebrate news of US operation

“Come celebrate with us , We love everybody because you America has loved us so much. Thank you America.”

Venezuela is celebrating the capture of tyrant President Nicolas Maduro pic.twitter.com/u0SRmkDlg8

— 112 Fighting Sports (@112FIGHTNSPORTS) January 3, 2026

🚨 BREAKING: Venezuelans in Miami have gathered to celebrate the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro

His rein of terrorism and narco trafficking is OFFICIALLY OVER.

🔥🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

pic.twitter.com/8ewL6n9uV8

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 3, 2026

Trump says Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, wife ‘captured’ after large-scale strikes

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by US forces during a “large-scale” nighttime military operation early Saturday, President Trump announced.

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

US captures Maduro, carries out ‘large scale strike’ in Venezuela

President Donald Trump said the U.S. “successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela” and said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were “captured and flown out of the Country.”

The announcement on Trump’s social media platform came shortly before 4:30 a.m. Saturday a few hours after several explosions were heard in Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas, witnesses said, and photos and videos showed plumes of smoke and a large fireball in the night sky.

Twitter Venezuela

h/t PA Cat, Canuknucklehead™, patthedog

CBS Live Feed: President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities, U.S. officials told CBS News, as the administration early Saturday ratcheted up its campaign against the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

BBC Live – Explosions heard as smoke rises in Venezuelan capital Caracas

Telegraph Live: US launches air strikes on Venezuela

Guardian Live Feed: Venezuela accuses US after explosions and low-flying aircraft reported in Caracas – live

BREAKING: U.S. Officials confirm they have carried out airstrikes in Caracas, Venezuela pic.twitter.com/xiHBSB6ME5

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 3, 2026

🚨#BREAKING: Reuters reports that U.S. ground forces and United States Air Force assets are currently on the ground and active in and around Caracas, Venezuela. Multiple explosions have been reported and observed across the capital as operations continue. pic.twitter.com/96mTpvxmQX

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) January 3, 2026

BREAKING:

Massive U.S. airstrikes against military targets in Caracas, Venezuela.

Dozens of U.S. helicopters are flying above the Venezuelan capital city. pic.twitter.com/48hjTu84FT

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 3, 2026

Twitter – Venezuela

Info is a bit skint no confirmation of US Troops on the ground etc

Donald Trump gave a nonchalant confirmation of the first US land strike in Venezuela during a radio interview last week that received little attention.

The President said that the Christmas Eve strike was on a facility ‘where the ship comes from’ – seemingly referencing the origination location of the alleged drug vessels that the US military has been targeting in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the last three months.

Speaking on WABC on December 26, Trump made the bombshell suggestion that US forces have already started conducting land operations in Venezuela.

US forces on Saturday stopped a second merchant vessel off the coast of Venezuela in international waters, according to two US officials, the Associated Press reported.

The move comes days after Donald Trump announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in to and out of the South American country and follows the seizure by US forces of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast on 10 December.

The officials were not authorized to discuss publicly the ongoing military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity, the AP said.

Donald Trump and his top advisers have refused to rule out the potential for open conflict with Venezuela as Nicolás Maduro urged his navy to escort oil tankers defying the largest US fleet deployed in the region in decades.

In an interview broadcast on Friday morning, Donald Trump told NBC News that going to war with Maduro’s regime remains on the table. “I don’t rule it out, no,” he said in a phone interview with the network.

And at a year-end press conference at the state department, Marco Rubio doubled down on remarks by other top Trump advisers that the US could coerce Maduro through its campaign of strikes on alleged drug boats travelling toward the United States.

Nicolás Maduro is chased out of office by a massive popular revolt but the Venezuelan military takes to the streets, turning its guns on the civilians who have brought him down.

A palace coup sends Venezuela’s authoritarian leader into exile, sparking a bloody power struggle between members of his disintegrating regime.

Maduro or a key ally is assassinated by a US “decapitation” strike but – as foreign soldiers commandeer Caracas and key airports and ports – leftwing insurgents tighten their grip on the country’s mineral-rich hinterlands and regime loyalists launch guerrilla-style attacks on oil refineries and pipelines.

Donald Trump has exerted more pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and issuing fresh threats to strike land targets in Venezuela, as the South American dictator accused the US president of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean.

Late on Thursday, the US imposed curbs on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and the shipping companies linked to them. The treasury department alleged the vessels “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”.

One of the worst “narratives” about Venezuela’s dictatorship revolves around whether the socialist hellhole is a narcostate, justifying President Trump’s emerging military buildup in the Caribbean, including Naval strikes on speedboats transferring state-produced cocaine to the U.S. If the Venezuelan state is, it’s a narcostate.

The Democrat-deep state-news media complex has been spreading the piece-by-piece narrative that they aren’t.