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President Donald Trump<\/span> claimed early Saturday that the U.S. had spirited Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro out of the country and taken him into custody, marking a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration\u2019s regime change efforts.<\/p>\n Hours after airstrikes lit up the night sky across the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Trump claimed credit<\/a> for the attacks and said that Maduro had been taken into U.S. custody.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an assault like people have not seen since World War II,\u201d Trump said from the Tea Room at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence, on Saturday, declaring that no U.S. troops were killed in the operation. \u201cWe are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so,\u201d he added, but said that since Maduro was captured, the U.S. would \u201cprobably not\u201d need to carry out a second attack. Trump also criticized the Venezuelan oil industry, suggesting it should be more productive.<\/p>\n In his Mar-a-Lago speech, Trump echoed comments he made suggesting that the U.S. would determine Venezuela\u2019s future on Fox News earlier Saturday. Asked about the country\u2019s fate, Trump told Fox: \u201cWe\u2019re making that decision now. We can\u2019t take a chance on letting somebody else run it. \u2026 We\u2019ll be involved in it very much.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to do liberty for the people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t take a chance on letting somebody else run it. So we\u2019re making that decision. We\u2019ll be involved in it very much.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n The U.S. has not made such a direct intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega.<\/p>\n The administration\u2019s communications about its plans in Venezuela have been inconsistent. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote<\/a> on X that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he \u201canticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House did not respond to questions concerning its potential role in the installation of new leadership in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Maduro and his wife are currently being held on the USS Iwo Jima, one of the U.S. warships that has been deployed to the Caribbean, a defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly told The Intercept. They are being transported to New York to face charges.<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, Venezuela\u2019s right-wing opposition leader, celebrated Maduro\u2019s capture in a statement posted on X. \u201cThe time has come for popular sovereignty and national sovereignty to rule our country,\u201d wrote Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year. She urged for the immediate installation of Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez Urrutia, Maduro\u2019s main competitor in the last Venezuelan presidential election, as the country\u2019s commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n According to CBS News<\/a>, the operation to capture the 63-year-old Maduro was carried out by Delta Force, the elite unit of the U.S. Army special operations. According to Sky News, sources within the Venezuelan opposition described the capture<\/a> as a \u201cnegotiated exit.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Special Operations Command referred questions about Delta Force involvement in the operation to the White House. The White House press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Trump finally broke his silence about the attacks just before 4:30 a.m. with his post to Truth Social. Senior administration officials, including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, immediately shared the post.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a telephone interview<\/a> with a Colombian news station, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez appeared to confirm the capture when she demanded that the U.S. provide proof of life of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro.<\/p>\n The Venezuelan government said in a statement that attacks struck the states of Aragua, Miranda, and La Guaira, in addition to Caracas, framing the strikes as part of a broader, nationwide assault.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack,\u201d the statement read. \u201cVenezuela reserves the right to exercise legitimate defense to protect its people, its territory, and its independence.\u201d <\/p>\n The Trump administration\u2019s abduction of Maduro is an extension of long-running efforts to topple the Venezuelan president.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n The Trump administration\u2019s abduction of Maduro is an extension of long-running efforts<\/a> to topple<\/a> the Venezuelan president which failed during Trump\u2019s first term<\/a>. Maduro and close allies were indicted<\/a> in a New York federal court in 2020 on charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. Earlier this year, the U.S. doubled its reward for information leading to Maduro\u2019s arrest to $50 million.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that Maduro had been indicted in the Southern District of New York alongside his wife, Cilia Flores, who had not previously been charged. The superseding indictment<\/a> against Maduro, Flores, and four other Venezuelan officials was unsealed Saturday.<\/p>\n Bondi wrote<\/a> on X that Maduro had been charged with \u201cNarco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.\u201d Of Maduro and Flores, she wrote, \u201cThey will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.\u201d<\/p>\n In a March filing related to Maduro\u2019s 2020 indictment, the Trump administration claims that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua was acting as \u201ca de facto arm of<\/a>\u201d Maduro\u2019s government, but the Office of the Director of National Intelligence determined<\/a> earlier this year that the \u201cMaduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. maintains that Tren de Aragua is both engaging in irregular warfare against and in a non-international armed conflict with the United States. These are, however, mutually exclusive designations<\/a> which cannot occur simultaneously.<\/p>\n The Trump administration also claims that another criminal organization, C\u00e1rtel de los Soles<\/a>, is \u201cheaded by Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan individuals,\u201d despite little evidence that such a group exists<\/a>. Secretary of State Marco Rubio continued to make such claims on X on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c[Maduro] doesn\u2019t want to fuck around with the United States,\u201d Trump told reporters<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n Last month, Trump told Politico<\/a> that Maduro\u2019s \u201cdays are numbered.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, its president Manuel Noriega was captured and brought to Miami for trial over alleged drugs offenses. After 20 years in U.S. custody, he was extradited<\/a> to France. Noriega later returned to Panama, where he died in 2017.<\/p>\n\n
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History Rhymes<\/strong><\/h2>\n