United States President Donald Trump has publicly announced the US military’s elite Delta Force unit has carried out a raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country following a “large-scale strike” on Venezuela by the US, Trump says.
Maduro is understood to be in US custody aboard the US Navy ship the USS Iwo Jima.
He and his wife are being taken to New York in the US where they will stand trial on charges relating to narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking, news media are reporting.
President Trump has held a press conference on the situation at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida this morning New Zealand time.
He said the US would “run” Venezuela until a transition of power in the country can be arranged.
Trump watched live footage of the operation to capture Maduro and his wife unfold at Mar-a-Lago with members of his Administration including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The New York Times is reporting that according to its sources, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez “has been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president in a secret ceremony in Caracas [the capital] on Saturday”.
