After months of threats and pressure tactics, the United States bombed Venezuela on Saturday, toppling authoritarian left-wing leader Nicolas Maduro, who was taken to stand trial in New York.
How did it start?
The first explosions were heard in the capital Caracas and the surrounding areas shortly before 02:00 (06:00 GMT), and continued until about 03.15.
Images on social media showed helicopters silhouetted against the night sky and missiles slamming into targets, creating fireballs and huge plumes of smoke.
Trump said at 0921 GMT on its Truth Social platform that the US had “successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela” and that Maduro and his wife had been “captured and flown out of the country.”
Top US general Dan Caine said the aim of “Operation Absolute Resolve” was solely to capture Maduro, with airstrikes clearing the way for helicopters used in the capture operation.
Caine said the operation, involving more than 150 aircraft, followed months of preparation.
What was hit?
Fort Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, was among the targets.
The huge base in southern Caracas is home to the Ministry of Defense, a military academy and housing units for thousands of troops and their families.
AFP reporters saw flames and huge plumes of smoke rising from the complex.
At one of the entrances, which was still guarded, was an armored vehicle and a truck riddled with bullet marks.
La Carlota air base east of Caracas was also targeted. AFP reporters saw an armored vehicle at the base in flames and a burned bus.
Explosions were also reported in La Guaira, north of Caracas, home to a port and an international airport; the north-central city of Maracay; and Higuerote on the Caribbean coast—all within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Caracas.
Are there victims?
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez accused US forces of firing missiles and rockets at residential areas.
As of Saturday evening, the Venezuelan authorities had not yet published casualty figures.
Trump, speaking further Fox News program “Fox and Friends,” boasted that no American soldiers had been killed. He later told the New York Post that “many Cubans” protecting Maduro had died, the first sign of casualties from the US strikes.
What has become of Maduro?
The operation brought the curtain down on 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule by Maduro, who had a $50 million U.S. bounty on his head.
Trump posted a photo on Truth Social of the Venezuelan leader handcuffed and blindfolded aboard a US Navy ship in the Caribbean.
From there, he and his wife Cilia Flores were flown to New York to face drug and weapons charges.
Trump said he followed the operation to capture Maduro live at his Mar-a-Lago estate “like I was watching a TV show.”
“He was in a very high guarded… like a fortress actually,” he said.
He said Maduro tried in vain to flee to safety.
Caine said intelligence agents had spent months studying how Maduro “moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what his pets were.”
He said the 63-year-old socialist and his wife surrendered without resistance.
What next for Venezuela?
Trump stunned U.S. allies and enemies alike by saying the U.S. would “manage” Venezuela for an indefinite transition period.
He hinted that it could involve the deployment of US troops on the ground.
Venezuela’s opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, took to social media to proclaim that her country’s “hour of freedom has arrived.”
Machado, seen as a hero by many Venezuelans for her staunch opposition to Maduro, called on the opposition candidate for the 2024 election to “immediately” assume the presidency.
Trump defied any expectations that Machado would emerge as a leader herself, claiming she had “no support or respect” in Venezuela.
