President Donald Trump said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been “captured and flown out of the country.”
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
“This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement,” Trump added.
A series of explosions hit the country’s capital, Caracas, and surrounding areas earlier Saturday.
The U.S. has been ramping up the pressure on the country for months, assembling a huge military presence in the Caribbean, intercepting two fully-loaded Venezuelan crude tankers, and killing dozens in strikes on boats near it alleges were carrying drugs.
President Trump has pressed Maduro to step down, and on Dec. 18 told NBC News he was leaving the possibility of a war with the country on the table.
Thousands of Venezuelans were arrested following sometimes violent protests in the wake of July 2024 presidential elections, which the opposition and others said were stolen in favor of Maduro.
Venezuela has not confirmed Maduro’s whereabouts.
