US special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a surprise overnight raid in Caracas, following months of covert intelligence gathering and preparation authorised by President Donald Trump.
The operation unfolded on New Year’s Eve as elite Army commandos were placed on standby in the Caribbean region, awaiting suitable weather conditions to strike an armoured safe house in the Venezuelan capital. Once cloud cover lifted late Friday, Trump approved the mission.
Highly trained Delta Force troops arrived by helicopter under cover of darkness and descended on the compound where Maduro and Flores were sleeping. The couple attempted to reach a fortified safe room as Trump monitored the operation via a live feed from his Florida residence, Mar a Lago.
Armed with blow torches, the commandos forced entry and quickly subdued the pair. Trump later described the moment, saying the troops “bum rushed” the couple and that Maduro “was trying to get to a safe place. He didn’t make it.’’
Maduro and Flores were flown by helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship positioned off Venezuela, before being transferred to New York. US officials said the pair will face charges including drug trafficking and weapons offences.
Senior administration officials said the operation, known as Absolute Resolve, resulted in no US fatalities. An unspecified number of US personnel sustained non life threatening injuries, while an unspecified number of Venezuelan security forces were killed during the assault.
“They were waiting for us,” Trump said. “They knew we were coming, so they were in … what’s called a ready position, but they were completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated.”
Explosions were reported across Caracas during the predawn operation, including near key military facilities, as US aircraft conducted aerial support missions. Helicopters flew at low altitude after US cyber operators blacked out city lights.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Dan Caine said helicopters reached Maduro’s compound at 1:01 a.m. Eastern time and immediately took fire. A senior administration official added, “From the time the first booms went off to the time someone was kicking down their door was three minutes.”
US officials said the raid followed months of intelligence work to track Maduro’s movements. Caine said intelligence teams studied “how he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets.”
A source familiar with the operation said the CIA had an informant inside the Venezuelan government and had deployed personnel into the country to monitor Maduro’s routine ahead of the raid.
By 3:29 a.m. Eastern time, the helicopter carrying Maduro and Flores had cleared Venezuelan airspace.
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez condemned the operation as “this complete brutal aggression” and later declared herself interim president. In a televised address, she said, “There is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro.”
The Trump administration described the mission as a law enforcement action supported by the military, with Justice Department officials present to arrest the couple. One senior official said, “There were literally Department of Justice personnel on site to read him his rights and take him into custody.”
Critics disputed the legal basis of the operation. Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer, said, “It’s still an unlawful use of force against another state under international law.”
Congressional leaders were briefed after the raid. Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio said advance notification was impossible, adding, “It’s just not the kind of mission that you can prenotify because it endangers the mission.”
Maduro, who has led Venezuela since 2013, faces longstanding US charges including narco terrorism, cocaine trafficking conspiracies and weapons offences linked to alleged ties with the Cartel of the Suns and Colombia’s FARC.pecial forces seized Venezuela’s president after months of covert planning, flying Nicolás Maduro to New York to face charges.
US special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a surprise overnight raid in Caracas, following months of covert intelligence gathering and preparation authorised by President Donald Trump.
The operation unfolded on New Year’s Eve as elite Army commandos were placed on standby in the Caribbean region, awaiting suitable weather conditions to strike an armoured safe house in the Venezuelan capital. Once cloud cover lifted late Friday, Trump approved the mission.
Highly trained Delta Force troops arrived by helicopter under cover of darkness and descended on the compound where Maduro and Flores were sleeping. The couple attempted to reach a fortified safe room as Trump monitored the operation via a live feed from his Florida residence, Mar a Lago.
Armed with blow torches, the commandos forced entry and quickly subdued the pair. Trump later described the moment, saying the troops “bum rushed” the couple and that Maduro “was trying to get to a safe place. He didn’t make it.’’
Maduro and Flores were flown by helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship positioned off Venezuela, before being transferred to New York. US officials said the pair will face charges including drug trafficking and weapons offences.
Senior administration officials said the operation, known as Absolute Resolve, resulted in no US fatalities. An unspecified number of US personnel sustained non life threatening injuries, while an unspecified number of Venezuelan security forces were killed during the assault.
“They were waiting for us,” Trump said. “They knew we were coming, so they were in … what’s called a ready position, but they were completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated.”
Explosions were reported across Caracas during the predawn operation, including near key military facilities, as US aircraft conducted aerial support missions. Helicopters flew at low altitude after US cyber operators blacked out city lights.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Dan Caine said helicopters reached Maduro’s compound at 1:01 a.m. Eastern time and immediately took fire. A senior administration official added, “From the time the first booms went off to the time someone was kicking down their door was three minutes.”
US officials said the raid followed months of intelligence work to track Maduro’s movements. Caine said intelligence teams studied “how he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets.”
A source familiar with the operation said the CIA had an informant inside the Venezuelan government and had deployed personnel into the country to monitor Maduro’s routine ahead of the raid.
By 3:29 a.m. Eastern time, the helicopter carrying Maduro and Flores had cleared Venezuelan airspace.
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez condemned the operation as “this complete brutal aggression” and later declared herself interim president. In a televised address, she said, “There is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro.”
The Trump administration described the mission as a law enforcement action supported by the military, with Justice Department officials present to arrest the couple. One senior official said, “There were literally Department of Justice personnel on site to read him his rights and take him into custody.”
Critics disputed the legal basis of the operation. Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer, said, “It’s still an unlawful use of force against another state under international law.”
Congressional leaders were briefed after the raid. Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio said advance notification was impossible, adding, “It’s just not the kind of mission that you can prenotify because it endangers the mission.”
Maduro, who has led Venezuela since 2013, faces longstanding US charges including narco terrorism, cocaine trafficking conspiracies and weapons offences linked to alleged ties with the Cartel of the Suns and Colombia’s FARC.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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