Trump says Maduro 'captured and flown out' of Venezuela

WEST PALM BEACH, United States: President Donald Trump said Saturday that US forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a “large scale strike” on the South American country.

“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 on Truth Social.

Trump said he would give a news conference at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

The United States military was behind a series of strikes against the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Saturday, US media earlier reported.

US media outlets including CBS News and Fox News reported that unnamed Trump administration officials confirmed US forces were involved. CBS said an attack was ordered by President Donald Trump.

The Pentagon referred requests for comment from AFP to the White House, but officials there did not immediately respond. Trump is on vacation at his Florida home.

The explosions in Caracas came after months of steadily mounting US military and economic pressure on Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro and his country’s oil-export-dependent economy.

A huge naval and aerial presence has been established in the Caribbean, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships.

US forces have seized two tankers at sea as part of an oil blockade on Venezuela and killed more than 100 people in aerial strikes to destroy small boats accused of drug trafficking.

Trump has given differing arguments for his campaign against Venezuela, including the claim that the country is a major drug exporter to the United States and that Venezuela seized US oil interests.

The Republican leader has not explicitly called for Maduro’s ouster but the US government, along with many European nations, does not recognize the Venezuelan leader’s legitimacy.

Trump said in December “it would be smart for (Maduro)” to step down and has also said that the Venezuelan leader’s “days are numbered.”

The reported US attack on Caracas comes two days after Maduro attempted to engage with Trump, offering cooperation on fighting drug trafficking and illegal migration.

Trump told reporters on Monday that the United States had hit and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats, in what would be the first known strike on Venezuelan soil of the campaign, if confirmed. Maduro did not comment on the incident.

The United States since Trump’s first term has not considered Maduro the legitimate president of Venezuela following elections that international observers said were riddled with irregularities.