Trump Announces Capture of Nicolás Maduro After U.S. Strikes; Venezuela Reports Deaths

President Trump announced on Truth Social on Saturday that the United States had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a "large scale strike" and was flying him out of Venezuela, and said Maduro’s wife had also been captured. Venezuelan officials said explosions and strikes hit Caracas and other parts of the country, that a death and injury toll was being assessed, and that Venezuelans had been killed.

A U.S. official said there were no American casualties. Mr. Trump told The New York Times the operation was the result of "a lot of good planning" and called it "a brilliant operation." He said he would address congressional authority and next steps at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago.

The Venezuelan vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, said Mr. Maduro’s location was unknown and demanded proof he was alive. Venezuelan authorities declared a state of emergency and called for mobilization to oppose what they called U.S. military aggression. U.S. officials said the C.I.A.

used a source inside the Venezuelan government and a fleet of stealth drones to monitor Mr. Maduro before the capture. People briefed on the operation said it was carried out by U.S. special operations forces as a law enforcement mission, with critical intelligence support from the agency.

Key Topics

World, Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump, C.i.a, Uss Iwo Jima, Caracas