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Some of the nearly eight million Venezuelans who fled economic collapse and repression under Nicolas Maduro gathered in their thousands in cities worldwide Saturday to celebrate the strongman’s ouster by US forces.Thousands massed in the capitals of Chile, Mexico, Argentina and in Miami, dancing and hugging and waving Venezuelan flags.”At last we’ll be able to go back home,” street vendor Yurimar Rojas told AFP, straining to make himself heard over an ebullient crowd gathered in Santiago, many decked out in the Venezuelan national colors of yellow, blue and red.Maduro, whose claims to reelection in 2018 and 2024 were widely dismissed as fraudulent, was snatched by US forces in an early-morning military strike and flown to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.”This is tremendous for us,” celebrated Yasmery Gallardo, 61, who said she planned to return home soon from Chile, where she has lived for eight years.”I’m already planning my trip… I can’t wait to be back in my country!” Venezuelans in Chile have been spooked by the campaign promises of far-right president-elect Jose Antonio Kast to deport nearly 340,000 undocumented migrants he blames for a perceived rise in crime.- ‘Thank you’ Donald Trump -In Miami thousands more gathered, singing and kissing the Venezuelan flag.”Thank you, Trump!” one shouted about the US president.”Today, January 3rd, the dreams of Venezuelans abroad came true,” Ana Gonzalez, one of the revelers, told AFP.Another, Anabela Ramos, said she had been waiting “27 years for this moment and now it’s finally happened, it’s finally happened!”  In Spain, home to about 400,000 Venezuelans, thousands came together in Madrid to celebrate.”He is gone, he is gone!” they shouted, many with Venezuelan flags draped over their shoulders.”I came to celebrate: at last we’re emerging from this dictatorship,” said Pedro Marcano, 47, who has his heart set on going home after 11 years abroad.But first, “we’ll need things to be a bit clearer,” he said.The country’s future is uncertain, with Trump saying Saturday the United States will “run” Venezuela until a power transfer can happen.Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said she is ready to work with Washington, according to Trump, who said opposition leader Maria Corina Machado “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to be president.Rodriguez later insisted in a public address that Maduro was Venezuela’s “only president” and the government was “ready to defend” the country.At the Madrid rally, a message from Machado was played over a loudspeaker, and the crowd fell silent.”Venezuela will be free!” she said, and Marcano wiped a tear.In Buenos Aires, thousands similarly gathered in a joyous atmosphere.”No one wishes for an invasion and a bombing… but it was needed,” said 39-year-old Carlos Sierra, who left Venezuela in 2017.”It gives you back the hope of returning to your country.”- ‘Divine justice’ -In the capital of Colombia, which hosts nearly three million Venezuelans — more than any other country — hairdresser Kevin Zambrano grinned as he told AFP he was “Happy, happy, happy” to see the back of Maduro. “The first step is done, and everything else is a gain. (Thanks) to Donald Trump for helping Venezuela,” he said in Bogota, having left his home country 10 years ago.Yeiner Benitez, a security guard in the Colombian capital, teared up as he recalled the hardship and fear that drove him to leave Venezuela in 2022.During his absence, his uncle died from what Benitez said was a common illness due to a lack of medication — a regular occurrence in the economically ravaged country.”Venezuela has gone through a very difficult process; these have been very hard years — years of hunger, misery, torture, friends lost, friends who disappeared,” Benitez told AFP.”So, forgive the emotion, but what’s happening today is extraordinary; it’s divine justice.”Not everyone was happy with what they see as Washington’s foreign intervention. In Mexico City and Buenos Aires, groups gathered at the US embassies there to make their protest known.”Venezuelan brothers, resist… don’t hand over your land, your oil, your gold” to the United States, protest leader Mario Benitez told the crowd in Mexico, waving banners with slogans such as “No to war.”In Argentina’s capital, people chanted “Out, yankees, out!”burs-mlr/mlm

After months of threats and pressure tactics, the United States on Saturday bombed Venezuela and toppled authoritarian left-wing leader Nicolas Maduro, who was seized to face trial in New York.- How did it start? -The first explosions were heard in the capital Caracas and surrounding areas shortly before 2:00 am (0600 GMT), continuing until around 3:15 am.Images on social media showed helicopters silhouetted against the night sky and missiles slamming into targets, creating fireballs and huge plumes of smoke.Trump said at 0921 GMT on his Truth Social platform that the United States had “successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela” and that Maduro and his wife had been “captured and flown out of the Country.”Top US General Dan Caine said the goal of “Operation Absolute Resolve” was purely to seize Maduro, with airstrikes clearing the way for helicopters used in the capture raid.Caine said the operation, involving more than 150 aircraft, followed months of preparation.- What was hit? -Fort Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, was among the targets.The vast base in southern Caracas is home to the defense ministry, a military academy and housing units for thousands of troops and their families.AFP reporters saw flames and huge plumes of smoke rising from the complex. At one of the entrances, which was still guarded, an armored vehicle and a truck were pocked with bullet marks.La Carlota airbase east of Caracas was also targeted. AFP reporters saw an armored vehicle at the base in flames and a burned bus.Explosions were also reported in La Guaira, north of Caracas, home to a port and an international airport; the north-central city of Maracay; and Higuerote on the Caribbean coast — all within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Caracas.- Are there casualties? – Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez accused US forces of firing missiles and rockets at residential areas.As of Saturday night, Venezuelan authorities had yet to release casualty figures.Trump, speaking on Fox News program “Fox and Friends,” boasted that no US soldiers had been killed. He later told the New York Post that “many Cubans” who were protecting Maduro had died, the first indication of casualties from the US strikes.- What has become of Maduro? – The operation brought the curtain down on 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule by Maduro, who had a $50 million US bounty on his head.Trump posted a picture on Truth Social of the Venezuelan leader handcuffed and blindfolded aboard a US naval ship in the Caribbean.From there he and his wife Cilia Flores were flown to New York to face drugs and weapons charges.Trump said he followed the operation to capture Maduro live at his Mar-a-Lago estate “like I was watching a television show.””He was in a very highly guarded… like a fortress actually,” he said.He said Maduro tried in vain to escape to a safe space.Caine said intelligence agents had spent months studying how Maduro “moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets.”He said the 63-year-old Socialist and his wife surrendered without resistance.- What next for Venezuela? -Trump stunned US allies and foes alike by saying the United States would “run” Venezuela during an undetermined transitional period.He indicated that could involve deploying US troops on the ground.Venezuela’s opposition leader, Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado, took to social media to proclaim her country’s “hour of freedom has arrived.”Machado, seen as a hero by many Venezuelans for her dogged resistance to Maduro, called for the opposition’s candidate in the 2024 election to “immediately” assume the presidency.Trump brushed aside any expectations Machado herself would emerge as leader, claiming she did not have “support or respect” in Venezuela.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States will “run” Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves after snatching leftist leader Nicolas Maduro out of the country during a bombing raid on Caracas.Trump’s announcement came hours after a lightning attack in which special forces grabbed Maduro and his wife, while air strikes pounded multiple sites, stunning the capital city.The Maduros were being transported to New York to face narcotrafficking and weapons charges.Despite the success of the risky operation, what happens next is highly uncertain.Trump said he was “designating people” from his cabinet to be in charge in Venezuela, but gave no detail of how this would work.In another surprise, Trump indicated that US troops could be deployed there in the future, saying Washington is “not afraid of boots on the ground.”But Trump appeared to reject the possibility of the country’s repressed opposition taking power and said he could work instead with Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez.One aspect that became clearer was the White House’s motivation.Although the operation is being framed as a law enforcement action, Trump made clear that regime change and Venezuela’s oil riches were the major goals.”We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said. “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil.”- Trump dismisses opposition leader -US-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, posted on social media that “the hour of freedom has arrived.”She called for the opposition’s candidate in the 2024 election, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to “immediately” assume the presidency.But Trump was surprisingly cold about expectations that Machado could become Venezuela’s new leader. She doesn’t have “support or respect” there, he said.Instead he touted Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”Rodriguez however poured cold water on that, demanding Maduro’s release and vowing to “defend” the country.Reflecting the confusion, Trump indicated that US involvement is likely for the long haul.”We’re there now, but we’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” he said.China, a backer of Maduro’s leftist regime, said it “strongly condemns” the US operation, while France warned that a solution cannot “be imposed from outside.”United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.”- Blackout and bombing -Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, spent months massing off the coast.Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters around 2:00 am (0600 GMT). Air strikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour, AFP journalists said.The top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft took part in the operation, supporting troops helicoptering in to seize Maduro with the help of months of intelligence into the leader’s daily habits — down to “what he ate” and what pets he kept.Maduro, 63, and his wife “gave up” without a struggle and there was “no loss of US life,” he said.Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of La Guaira near the heavily bombed main airport, told AFP that the blasts “lifted me out of bed, and I immediately thought, ‘God, the day has come.'” Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and a smell of smoke drifting through the streets.- Shifting justifications -The US and numerous European governments already did not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy, saying he stole elections both in 2018 and 2024.Maduro — in power since 2013 after taking over from leftist mentor Hugo Chavez — long accused Trump of seeking regime change in order to control Venezuela’s oil reserves.Trump has given a variety of justifications for the aggressive policy toward Venezuela, at times stressing illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and the country’s oil industry.But he had previously avoided openly calling for regime change.Several members of Congress quickly questioned the legality of the operation. However, Trump’s key ally Mike Johnson, Republican speaker in the House of Representatives, said it was “justified.”burs-sms/sst/acb/mlm

With a major attack to arrest Venezuela’s leader, President Donald Trump is showing that the United States will impose its will in its neighborhood — and the lesson may not be lost on Russia and China.Trump described the raid to seize leftist Nicolas Maduro as an update of the Monroe Doctrine, the 1823 declaration by fifth US president James Monroe that Latin America was closed to other powers, then meaning Europe.”The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a lot, by a real lot. They now call it the Donroe document,” Trump told a news conference, slapping his name on the policy principle. “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”Weeks earlier, White House policymakers had given more intellectual gloss for the same idea in a national security strategy that announced a “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine.The policy, the strategy said, will authorize US intervention in Latin America for goals such as seizing strategic assets, fighting crime or ending migration, one of Trump’s top domestic goals.Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, with China its top partner. Trump had justified intervention by alleging drug-smuggling from small boats off Venezuela and by Maduro himself.But the United States is not alone in wanting to exert itself over smaller regional neighbors.Russia’s Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022 after questioning the former Soviet republic’s historical legitimacy and vowing the removal of its elected president, Volodymyr Zelensky.China has refused to rule out force to seize Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, and has angered US allies by claiming rights to much of the South China Sea.The Venezuela raid came days after China carried out major military exercises aimed at simulating a blockade of Taiwan following a major US arms deal. A Chinese envoy met Maduro in Caracas hours before his capture.- US superpower status slips -Trump’s intervention is also sure to gain the attention of US allies that have been stunned by his threats over resources he sees as strategic.Trump recently named an envoy who said he would work to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, and he has threatened to take back the Panama Canal.Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, which supports US restraint, said she had long dismissed Trump’s Greenland talk.”Now I’m not so sure,” she said. “It wouldn’t be that hard for the US to put a couple hundred or a couple thousand troops inside of Greenland, and it’s not clear to me who could do anything about it.”Venezuela “does raise this question that if the US can declare a leader illegitimate, go and remove him and then run the country, why can’t other countries?” The United States, of course, has a long history of interventions without UN authorization, notably the 2003 invasion of Iraq.The difference, Kavanaugh said, is that back then the United States had far more relative power.”It wasn’t a matter of setting a precedent for other countries, because they just couldn’t aspire to that level of military power and the US could stop basically anyone who tried. But that’s not true anymore.”- Mixed messages -The United States for decades stood firm against Moscow and Beijing. But under Trump, Washington’s stance has become murkier.The new national security strategy calls for a refocus closer to home and says comparatively little about Russia and China, leading some critics to conclude that Trump essentially was acknowledging they enjoy their own spheres of influence.Trump has spoken favorably of China and played down the risks of a Taiwan invasion. Before taking office Trump suggested Taiwan should pay more for its US “insurance policy.”On Ukraine, Trump has mused that the country is destined for defeat against larger Russia, and has pressed Kyiv to accept territorial concessions.At the very least, Venezuela will herald a harder US line within Latin America, said Alexander Gray, an Atlantic Council scholar who served on the National Security Council during Trump’s first term.”I think it’s very clear that there will no longer be a level of tolerance for the type of even lower-level Chinese, Russian and Iranian influence that we’ve seen over the last couple of decades,” Gray said.

Venezuelans who loathed President Nicolas Maduro and for years dreamed of his ouster hugged, sang and cried with joy Saturday over his seizure in a stunning nighttime US military raid.Now these Venezuelans — forced to flee their country due to financial hardship or political persecution — are hoping for a better future for Venezuela after years of political and economic crisis.Before dawn, Venezuelans started gathering outside El Arepazo, a popular restaurant in Doral, a Miami-area city where more than 40 percent of the population hails from Venezuela.”We woke up with the news that someone finally had done justice, and this fills us with happiness,” said Douglas Zarzalejo, a 55-year-old Venezuelan who has lived in Florida for 11 years.”Our country’s recovery has begun,” he added.Many of the revelers waved the red, yellow and blue Venezuelan flag as they sang and hugged each other over news of the fall of Maduro, who was captured with his wife Cilia Flores and taken out of the country en route to New York to face trial on “narco-terrorism” and weapons charges.The Venezuelans here blame him for the country’s ugly slide from oil wealth to economic basket case beset with shortages of everything and harsh political repression.Amid the celebration, one young man waved a poster that read, “Trump was right about everything.”For many people in Doral, Trump is a hero. He waged a weeks-long campaign of military pressure leading up to the pre-dawn raid and likened Maduro to a drug kingpin whose days were numbered.”Trump will go down in history as the first president who finally faced up to these corrupt people who kidnapped our country,” said Zarzalejo.- ‘Justice was done’ –Across the street from the Arepazo restaurant, a woman named Liz Vivas cried as she remembered her husband, Wilmer Munoz, a civil servant who had criticized the Maduro government. Vivas said the authorities caused him to disappear in 2018.”I know nothing about him, so this is great news. I could not bury him. I could not see him. But thanks to the fall of Nicolas Maduro, I can breathe a bit,” said Vivas, who is 39.”I feel like justice was done.”As Trump began a mid-day press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate to talk about the overnight raid that nabbed Maduro, the hundreds of Venezuelans celebrating in Doral fell silent to watch and listen on their cell phones.Trump said the United States will run Venezuela until a transition is possible and dampened the festive mood when he said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been in contact with Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s stalwart vice president.”She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.Another buzzkill came when Trump dismissed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who is wildly popular among the Venezuelan diaspora. Trump said she cannot be leader now because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”This is a shocking statement — the United States and much of the international community have argued that the winner of Venezuela’s 2024 election was not Maduro as he claimed but rather Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who stood in for Machado when the government barred her from running for president.”Maria Corina is our president. We have no representative other than her,” Vivas said emphatically.- ‘Mixed feelings’ -For some Venezuelans in Florida, the cloud of uncertainty now hanging over Venezuela saps the euphoria they feel over the ouster of Maduro.”I do not know what is going to happen. Trump just said that the vice president (Rodriguez) is with him. He is crazy. Everyone loves Maria Corina,” said Eleazar Morrison, a 47-year-old Venezuelan.”I don’t trust Trump but I am very grateful,” he added.Raul Chavez, a Venezuelan living in Miami, said he was worried by the remarks of Trump, who also said the United States will now tap Venezuela’s oil wealth.”I have mixed feelings. I really want Venezuela to be free, but I also want it to be independent, and we hope there can be a transition or an elected Venezuelan government.”

President Donald Trump watched a live feed of US forces dramatically seizing Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the climax of a meticulous, months-long operation.From American spies in Caracas to a picture of the leftist leader blindfolded and handcuffed, here is a blow-by-blow account of how “Operation Absolute Resolve” stunned the world.- ‘What he ate’ -US intelligence agents had been secretly monitoring leftist Maduro’s every movement since August, despite his widely reported efforts to regularly change locations as tensions mounted with Washington.”How he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore — what were his pets,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine said Saturday as he described the surveillance.The mission also involved months of “pinpoint” planning and rehearsal. Trump said US forces built a replica house identical to the one where Maduro was staying.The US military was ready by early December but waited for a window of “aligned events,” including the weather. Trump said he initially ordered the mission four days ago, but held off for the right conditions.- ‘Good luck and Godspeed’ -At 10:46 pm Washington time on Friday (0346 GMT Saturday), Trump gave the order to go. “He said to us — and we appreciate it Mr President — ‘Good luck and Godspeed.’ And those words were transmitted to the entire joint force,” said Caine.More than 150 US military aircraft then took off from land and sea, including fighter jets, reconnaissance planes, drones — and the helicopters that would form the crucial core of the mission.The helicopters carrying the “extraction force” for Maduro took off into the darkness, flying at just 100 feet (33 meters) above the surface of the ocean, said Caine. Fighter jets provided air cover while US satellite and cyber capabilities blocked Venezuelan radars.- ‘Knew we were coming’ -The first explosions began to rock Caracas just before 2 am (0600 GMT), according to AFP correspondents. As the world wondered if it was the start of a widespread bombing campaign of Venezuelan targets, US aircraft were in fact only striking Venezuelan air defenses to allow the helicopters to get to their target.”They knew we were coming,” Trump told a press conference, referring to the tensions that had been building for months. “But they were completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated” as US aircraft returned fire.One US chopper was hit but remained operational and made it home afterwards.The helicopters finally popped over the hills surrounding Caracas, and believing that the extraction team had maintained the element of surprise, landed at Maduro’s compound at 2:01 am Caracas time (0601 GMT).- ‘Like a fortress’ -Trump said he watched the climax of the operation on a live feed. Pictures released by the White House showed him sitting in a makeshift situation room at his Mar-a-Lago resort with Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA chief John Ratcliffe, Caine and other officials.”I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show,” Trump told Fox and Friends.The US president described Maduro’s compound as “a fortress.” “It had steel doors, it had what they call a safety space where it’s solid steel all around. He didn’t get that space closed, he was trying to get into it, but he got bum-rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that,” he told Fox.”We were prepared with massive blowtorches to get through the steel, but we didn’t need them.”Trump said no US personnel were killed — but said Maduro “could have been” had he or Venezuelan forces tried to resist.- ‘Gave up’ -Caine said Maduro and his wife “gave up” and were taken into custody by law enforcement officers on the mission. The pair face US drugs and terrorism charges.The US helicopters crossed the Venezuelan coastline at 3:29 am and the couple were taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima.Trump then broke the news in a post on Truth Social at 4:21 am Washington time. Minutes later, a senior White House official sent an AFP reporter a message consisting of emojis for a muscled arm, a fist and fire.The first the world would see of Maduro — blindfolded, cuffed, wearing ear protectors and a Nike tracksuit — came in a later Trump social media update, posted without comment.

Donald Trump crowed over the US military triumph in Venezuela on Saturday, but his sudden enthusiasm for intervention abroad puts him in a political minefield back home.Trump has railed against US entanglements abroad for years.When he branded the post-9/11 Iraq invasion “a stupid thing” a decade ago, he was setting out a central tenet of the nationalist, isolationist MAGA ideology that would win him the White House.So Saturday’s operation by special forces to swoop into Caracas and seize Venezuela’s leader Nicholas Maduro was doubly risky.The service members in the complex assault — including troops ferried in by helicopter, jets bombing sites around the city, and an armada of Navy ships off the coast — got away without losing a single soldier.But for Trump, the domestic political risks are only just starting.Not surprisingly, Democratic Party leaders swiftly attacked.The senior Democratic senator, Chuck Schumer, called the operation “reckless.””Second unjustified war in my life time. This war is illegal,” Senator Ruben Gallego, an Iraq veteran, said. “There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela.”Many in the Republican Party that Trump dominates came out to applaud.The White House spokeswoman ramped up enthusiasm with a social media post in the early hours of Saturday featuring strong arm, fist and fire emojis.And Senator Tom Cotton was quickly on board.”I commend President Trump and our brave troops and law-enforcement officers for this incredible operation,” he said.Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives and a key cog in the Trump political machine, quickly sought to scotch questions over the military operation’s legality.”Today’s military action in Venezuela was a decisive and justified operation that will protect American lives,” he said.Johnson made clear there’d be no rush for Congress to meet and debate. Trump administration officials are “working” to set up briefings only next week, he said.- America first or Venezuela? -But there are signs of disquiet among Republicans.Soon after news first broke that the extraordinary raid on Caracas was underway, conservative Senator Mike Lee wrote on X that he was looking “forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action.”There had been no “declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” he noted.A short while later, Lee was back on team Trump, saying he’d spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and had been reassured that the operation was simply to execute Maduro’s arrest.That “likely falls within the president’s inherent authority.”But Marjorie Taylor Greene, a MAGA firebrand and longtime Trump booster who recently fell out with the president, was far less forgiving.In a long post on X, she ripped apart Trump’s explanation that the Venezuela conflict is about stopping narcotics trafficking.Most of the deadly fentanyl entering the United States comes via Mexico, she said, so “why hasn’t the Trump admin taken action against Mexican cartels?”Greene went on to pose a series of questions likely to be echoed across much of the MAGA base, including how to explain the difference between forcing regime change in Venezuela and Russian or Chinese aggression against Ukraine or Taiwan.”Disgust” with foreign interventions, spending abroad instead of at home, and “neocon wars” — “this is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end,” she wrote.”Boy were we wrong.”

In a wide-ranging press conference on Saturday, US President Donald Trump on Saturday explained the operation to extract Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from Caracas, said Washington would temporarily “run” the country, and warned neighboring Colombia to be wary.Here are the highlights of the press conference, in Trump’s own words:- On what comes next for Venezuela -“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.””The people that are standing right behind me, we’re going to be running it. We’re going to be bringing it back.” (Behind him were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, senior aide Stephen Miller, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and top US General Dan Caine)- On working with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez -“She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again, very simple.”- On Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado -“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”- On Venezuela’s oil industry -“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.””Very importantly, the embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect. The American armada remains poised in position, and the United States retains all military options until United States demands have been fully met and fully satisfied.”- On further US military action in Venezuela -“We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so.””We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have. We had boots on the ground last night at a very high level, actually.”- On wider US plans in Latin America -“Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.””We want to surround ourselves with good neighbors. We want to surround ourselves with stability. We want to surround ourselves with energy. We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves.”- On Colombian President Gustavo Petro -“He’s making cocaine and they’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his ass.”

The US military operation that led to the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday sparked alarm across the international community, with allies and foes of Washington and Caracas expressing disquiet.US President Donald Trump said Maduro and his wife would be taken to New York to face federal charges after military strikes and an operation which he described as looking like a “television show”.The Venezuelan government decried what it termed a “extremely serious military aggression” by Washington and declared a state of emergency.Countries such as Russia and Iran, which had longstanding ties with Maduro’s government, were quick to condemn the operation but their alarm was also shared by Washington’s allies including France and the EU.Here is a rundown of the main reaction.- Russia -Russia demanded the US leadership “reconsider its position and release the legally elected president of the sovereign country and his wife”.- China -Beijing said “China is deeply shocked and strongly condemns the US’s blatant use of force against a sovereign state and its action against its president”.- Iran -Iran, which Trump bombed last year, said it “strongly condemns the US military attack on Venezuela and a flagrant violation of the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.- Mexico -Mexico, which Trump has also threatened with military force over drug trafficking, strongly condemned the US military action in Venezuela, saying it “seriously jeopardises regional stability.” – Colombia -Colombian President Gustavo Petro — whose country neighbours Venezuela — called the US action an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America which would lead to a humanitarian crisis.- Brazil -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva slammed the US attacks as a “serious affront” to Venezuela’s sovereignty.- Cuba -Cuba, a strong ally of Venezuela, denounced “state terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people”.- Spain -Spain offered to mediate in the crisis to find a way to a peaceful solution, while calling for “de-escalation and restraint”.- France -France condemned the US operation, saying it undermined international law and no solution to Venezuela’s crisis can be imposed from the outside.- EU -The EU more generally expressed concern at the developments and urged respect for international law, even as it noted that Maduro “lacks legitimacy”.EU candidate country North Macedonia, along with fellow Balkan nations Albania and Kosovo, backed Washington, however.”We stand with the United States and the Venezuelan people for freedom and democracy,” North Macedonia FM Timco Mucunski said on X.- Britain -British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said all countries should “uphold international law” and added that “the UK was not involved in any way in this operation” as he urged patience in order to “establish the facts”.- Italy -In a rare expression of support for the US operation by a major European country, far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — a Trump ally — argued the US military action in Venezuela was “legitimate” and “defensive”.- Israel -Israel also hailed the operation, saying Washington acted as the “leader of the free world”.- Ukraine -Ukraine — dependent on US support in its war against invading Russia — did not address the legality of a big country like America using military force against a much smaller one like Venezuela.Foreign minister Andriy Sybiga instead focused on Maduro’s lack of legitimacy and the Venezuelan government’s repression, while backing “democracy, human rights, and the interests of Venezuelans”.- South Africa -South Africa, which Trump accuses of alleged discrimination — and even “genocide” — of minority white Afrikaners, said: “Unlawful, unilateral force of this nature undermines the stability of the international order and the principle of equality among nations.”- UN -UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed” by the US strikes, with his spokesman quoting him as saying it could “constitute a dangerous precedent”.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that US special forces seized Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro during a nighttime bombing raid on the capital Caracas and were taking him to face trial in New York.A months-long standoff ended swiftly and violently in a high-risk operation that Trump touted as an “amazing” success.US-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, posted on social media: “the hour of freedom has arrived.”She called for the opposition’s candidate in the 2024 election, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to “immediately” assume the presidency.But the United Nations chief said he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.”China, a backer of Maduro’s hard-left regime, said it “strongly condemns” the US attack, while France warned that a solution for troubled Venezuela cannot “be imposed from outside.”Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters around 2:00 am (0600 GMT). Airstrikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour, AFP journalists said.The bombing turned out to be only part of a more ambitious plan to topple 63-year-old Maduro and bring him to US soil to face narco-trafficking charges.A triumphant Trump told Fox News that US troops had snatched Maduro from “a fortress” and that no US personnel were killed, although “a couple of guys were hit.””I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show,” Trump said, expressing astonishment at “the speed, the violence.””It was an amazing thing,” he said.Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and a smell of smoke drifting through the streets.- Maduro to New York -Trump said Maduro was initially extracted by helicopter and was being held on the Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship that is part of a large US naval presence in the Caribbean. From there, he will be sent to New York.Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife will face the “full wrath” of the courts on drugs and terrorism charges.Maduro — in power since 2013 after taking over from Hugo Chavez — long accused Trump of seeking regime change in order to control Venezuela’s huge oil reserves.Trump said the extraordinary snatching of a foreign country’s leader was justified because of his claim that Venezuela is responsible for mass death from drugs in the United States.What happens next in Venezuela remained unclear.”We’re making that decision now. We can’t take a chance at letting somebody else run and just take over where he left, left off,” Trump told Fox News. “We’ll be involved in it very much.”The US and numerous European governments already did not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy, saying he stole elections both in 2018 and 2024.But Trump did not say whether he wanted Machado to take over.- ‘They’re bombing!’ -Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, massed off the coast.Fort Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, situated in the south of Caracas, and Carlota airbase in the north were among the targets of the strikes.Francis Pena, a 29-year-old communications professional living in eastern Caracas, told AFP that he was sleeping and his girlfriend said: “They’re bombing!”La Guaira, north of the capital, where Caracas’s main airport and port are located, was also struck. “I felt like (the explosions) lifted me out of bed, and I immediately thought, ‘God, the day has come,’ and I cried,” Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of La Guaira, told AFP.The defense ministry accused the United States of targeting residential areas and announced a “massive deployment” of military resources.No casualty figures were immediately available.- Oil, drugs, migrants? -Trump has given a variety of justifications for the military build-up around Venezuela, at times stressing illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and the country’s oil industry, in which US companies have long played a major role.He had not openly called for regime change — likely mindful of his nationalist political base’s dislike for foreign entanglements.However, he told Fox News on Saturday that he had spoken with Maduro just last week and told him “You have to give up. You have to surrender.”Several members of Congress quickly questioned the legality of the operation. Trump’s key ally Mike Johnson, Republican speaker in the House of Representatives, said it was “decisive and justified.”As part of an escalating pressure campaign, Washington informally closed Venezuela’s airspace, imposed more sanctions and ordered the seizure of tankers loaded with Venezuelan oil.US forces have also carried out numerous strikes on boats in both the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September — targeting what Washington says are drug smugglers — that have killed more than 100 people, according to the US military.Among other international reactions, Iran, Cuba and Colombia’s leftist leader Gustavo Petro condemned the attacks, while the EU’s top diplomat urged restraint. Spain offered to mediate.burs-sms/des