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A lingering smell of explosives hung over Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Saturday as shocked residents took stock after an early-morning US strike that ousted strongman Nicolas Maduro.While a few hundred Maduro supporters gathered to clamor for his freedom, the streets were otherwise eerily quiet.”I felt the explosions lift me out of bed. In that instant I thought: ‘My God, the day has come,’ and I cried,” Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of the city of six million people, told AFP.  The strikes started around 2:00 am local time, with dozens of detonations that some people at first mistook for fireworks.Windows rattled from the shockwaves and residents rushed out onto terraces and balconies as military aircraft zoomed overhead.”It was horrible, we felt the planes flying over our house,” said a resident of the Coche neighborhood, near the city’s largest military complex, which was targeted in the raid.Residents saw columns of smoke rising from several parts of the city, which was soon cloaked in a fog-like haze.Witnesses spoke of bombings in La Guaira, Caracas’s airport and port, in Maracay to the west, and in Higuerote to the east. – ‘Absurd! -In the aftermath, Venezuelans soon learned their long-ruling leader Maduro was out.US special forces seized Maduro and took him to face trial in New York.A few hundred supporters gathered in Caracas to demand news of their leader’s fate.”Long live Nicolas Maduro,” echoed a rally cry from a hastily erected stage with speakers blaring revolutionary music.”Long live!” responded the crowd.Katia Briceno, a 54-year-old university professor, came out to protest against what she described as US “barbarism.””How is it that a foreign government comes into the country and removes the president? It’s absurd!” she told AFP.Apart from the protesters, there were few Venezuelans out, and just occasional cars on the usually bustling streets.Those who did venture out did so under the watchful eye of black-clad agents patrolling the center with long guns.Many stores were closed after the attack, while queues formed at others that were letting people in a few at a time.Damage from the explosions was mostly limited to military installations, where vehicles stood riddled by bullets, others smouldering and charred.Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino Lopez accused the US forces of attacking civilian areas with missiles and rockets fired from combat helicopters.President Donald Trump said no US soldiers died in Saturday’s strikes, but the toll on the Venezuelan side remained unknown.For residents of Caracas, the future is uncertain.Trump said he was “not afraid of boots on the ground” and mooted the possibility of a “much bigger” second wave of strikes if necessary.He also said the United States will “run” Venezuela until a political transition occurs.Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado insists Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, whom the opposition says won elections in July 2024 in which Maduro claimed victory, “must immediately assume his constitutional mandate” as president.Trump appeared to scotch any expectation that Machado herself might emerge as Venezuela’s new leader. She does not have “support or respect” there, he said.Trump indicated he could instead work with Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”Neighboring Colombia was reinforcing its border with Venezuela, using tanks and armed soldiers who normally fight guerrillas to secure the frontier.Colombian security forces deployed at the main border crossings on the orders of leftist President Gustavo Petro, who has clashed with Trump over his months-long military buildup in the region.Petro’s government has warned of a potential humanitarian crisis with migrants pouring over the border from Venezuela.However, on the Simon Bolivar bridge in Villa del Rosaria, the main crossing point, the number of people walking across on Saturday was far below normal.

Twelve hours after the United States bombed Venezuela during an operation to oust President Nicolas Maduro, the smoke continued to seep from hangars in the port of La Guaira north of Caracas.La Guaira was one of several areas in or near Caracas struck by jets during a stealth mission to snatch Maduro and whisk him out of the country.Deformed shipping containers, their contents spilling onto the docks, bore testimony to the force of the strikes that US officials said were designed to clear the way for helicopters to swoop in on Maduro’s hiding place.There were no reports of casualties in the area.Firefighters used an excavator to remove broken glass and gnarled metal strewn across the site as policemen with pump-action rifles patrolled on motorbike to prevent looting.Curious onlookers filmed the scene on their smartphones, many still incredulous at the speed and magnitude of the day’s events. In a little over an hour, US forces removed an authoritarian leader who had stubbornly clung to power through years of US sanctions and coup plots.The blasts blew out the windows of public buildings on La Guaira’s seafront and ripped the roofs off several houses.”Psssh, first we saw the flash and then the explosion,” said Alpidio Lovera, a 47-year-old resident, who ran to a hill with his pregnant wife and other residents to escape the strikes.His sister Linda Unamuno, 39, burst into sobs as she recalled a nightmarish night.”The blast smashed the entire roof of my house,” she said.Unamuno’s first thoughts were that La Guaira was experiencing another natural disaster, 26 years ago after a landslide of biblical proportions swept away 10,000 people, many of them washed out to sea.”I went out, that’s when I saw what was happening. I saw the fire from the airstrikes. It was traumatizing,” she sobbed, adding she “wished it on no-one.”Alirio Elista, a pensioner whose water tank was damaged in the strikes, said those who cheered the US intervention for bringing down the unpopular Maduro “don’t know what they’re talking about.”He said he believed news of Maduro’s capture was “fake” — despite US President Donald Trump having posted a picture of him blindfolded and handcuffed on a US warship.Like many in Venezuela, the 68-year-old expressed nostalgia for the heyday of the Caribbean country between the 1950s and 1970s, when it was flush with oil riches.In the past decade Maduro ran the economy into the ground, causing rampant inflation and widespread shortages of fuel, medicine and some basic foodstuffs.Elista’s pension of under half a dollar a week “doesn’t pay for anything,” he complained.”We’re hungry,” he said.But unlike Trump, he had few illusions of a quick fix for the country’s ills.The Republican leader outlined his vision Saturday of US oil companies pouring into Venezuela to repair crumbling infrastructure — and reap the rewards with surging oil revenues.Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves but its output has tanked in recent years due to a US oil embargo and chronic underinvestment.”We’ll need at least 15 years to get back to where we were,” Elista predicted.

Less than a year after watching flames raze his home in the Altadena foothills, Ted Koerner has moved into a brand new house, one of the first to rebuild in this Los Angeles suburb.It has been an uphill battle, and Koerner is visibly moved as he brings his dog, Daisy, back home. “We’ve been through a lot this year,” he told AFP.Altadena was hardest hit by the fires that ravaged parts of the sprawling US metropolis in January 2025. Thousands of homes were destroyed and 19 people died in the town — compared to 12 killed in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood.To rebuild his home, Koerner, a 67-year-old head of a security company, had to front up several hundred thousand dollars as his mortgage lender refused to release insurance payouts for months.Koerner also had to contend with the uncertainties created by the policies of US President Donald Trump.Tariffs on steel, wood, and cement, all of which are often imported, have increased construction costs, and Latino construction workers fear arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”If ICE grabs construction crews and Trump does that to us on top of tariffs, we’ll never get this town rebuilt,” Koerner said.Slowly, however, Altadena is coming back to life. Amid the thousands of empty lots, a few frames are beginning to rise from the ground. – ‘Chaos and delays’ -The hurricane-strength 160 kilometer (100 mile) per hour gusts of wind that spread the fire at breakneck speed last January are still fresh in everyone’s minds. But despite the destruction and the pervasive threat of climate change in California, dogged survivors refuse to move away. “Where are you gonna go?” sighs another Altadena resident, Catherine Ridder, a 67-year-old psychotherapist. “There’s no place around here that’s not vulnerable to catastrophic weather.”Her construction project has begun and she hopes to move in by August — before the $4,000 monthly rent she pays for a furnished apartment exhausts the housing allowance from her insurance.To speed things up, the Californian bureaucracy has streamlined its processes. Los Angeles County is issuing building permits within a few months. Before, it often took more than a year.But Ridder has been frustrated by delays in inspections to verify compliance with new building codes, such as requiring a fire sprinkler system in the roof. “There’s a lot of chaos and delays. I mean, maybe it’s faster than pre-fire stuff, but this doesn’t feel easy at all,” she told AFP. “I know that I’m way better off than a lot of people who were underinsured.”- Losing the ‘melting pot’ -In this high-risk area, many residents were covered by the state’s insurer of last resort, and their compensation is too meager to rebuild homes that often cost more than a million dollars. So many are counting on the financial outcome of lawsuits filed against Southern California Edison, the company that owns the faulty power line suspected of having triggered the fire that destroyed Altadena. Carol Momsen couldn’t wait.She was compensated only $300,000 for the destruction of her home, so the 76-year-old retiree sold her land. That paid for a new apartment elsewhere. “Even if I had the money, I don’t think I’d want to rebuild in Altadena, because it’s just a sad place right now,” the former saleswoman said.There is palpable anxiety that this diverse town, home to a sizable African American population, will lose its soul because people cannot afford to rebuild.Several empty lots display signs: “Altadena, not for sale!” and “Black homes matter.”Ellaird Bailey, 77, a retired technician at a telecommunications company, settled here with his wife in 1984 so his children could grow up in this “melting pot.””So many of those people that we’ve known for 20 or 30 years are moving away” to more affordable communities, he said.”It’s hard to visualize what it’s going to be like moving forward.”

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States will “run” Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves after seizing leftist leader Nicolas Maduro during a bombing raid on Caracas.Trump’s announcement came hours after a lightning pre-dawn attack in which special forces grabbed Maduro and his wife — while air strikes pounded sites in and around the capital city — then whisked him out of the country.Maduro landed at a US military base shortly after nightfall, then was transported by helicopter to New York City, where the couple will face drug trafficking 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 further details.In another surprise, Trump indicated US troops could be deployed, saying Washington is “not afraid of boots on the ground.”But he appeared to reject the possibility of the country’s 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, with Trump indicating 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 2024 election candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to “immediately” assume the presidency.But Trump was surprisingly cold about expectations that Machado could become Venezuela’s new leader, saying she doesn’t have “support or respect” there.Instead, he touted Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”Rodriguez poured cold water on that, demanding Maduro’s release and vowing to “defend” the country.Reflecting the confusion, Trump indicated US involvement is likely for the long haul.”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 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.”At Venezuela’s request, the UN Security Council will meet Monday to discuss the US operation to seize Maduro, the Somali presidency of the Council told AFP.- Blackout and bombing -Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces spent months massing off the coast.Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters around 2 am (0600 GMT). Air strikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour.The top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft took part in the operation, supporting troops who choppered in to seize Maduro with the help of months of intelligence into his 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.Venezuelan authorities have yet to release casualty figures. But Trump told the New York Post that “many” Cubans who were part of Maduro’s security detail were killed.Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and the smell of smoke drifting through the streets.- Shifting justifications -The US and numerous European governments did not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy, saying he stole elections 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 offered several 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, top Republican in the House of Representatives, said it was “justified.”burs-sms/ksb/acb

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.