Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores attend a year-end salutation to military forces in La Guaira, Venezuela, Sunday 28 December 2025;
Credit: REUTERS/Miraflores Palace
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro, who has been taken out of the country, President Donald Trump said on Saturday 3 January 2026.
The US has not made such a direct intervention in Latin American since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega.
"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country," Trump said in a Truth Social post.
There was no immediate confirmation from the Venezuelan government.
