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VENEZUELA Smoke blows after explosions at the La Carlota airport early Saturday morning in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Foto\/Matias Delacroix) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Matias Delacroix\/AP) <\/p>\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Venezuelans and Venezuelan Americans who felt hopeful after the U.S. military\u2019s capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, celebrated on Saturday and Sunday at El Arepazo in Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n
As they returned to their routines on Monday, Maduro arrived at federal court in Manhattan to face narco-terrorism charges. The U.S. didn\u2019t recognise him as the legitimate president of Venezuela. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were struggling for so many years with these criminals. We were able to prove that to the world thanks to her fight,\u201d said Maria Morin, a supporter of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, the coordinator of Vente Venezuela, a Caracas-based political party founded in 2013. <\/p>\n
At the Vente USA rally on Sunday, Andrea Notvar told Local 10 News that she is hopeful about the political future of Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez in Venezuela and President Donald Trump\u2019s process. <\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like at the moment there is a strategy in place. They need to be very strategic … I don\u2019t doubt she will be in power,\u201d Notvar said.<\/p>\n
During the United Nations Security Council\u2019s emergency meeting on Monday in New York City. Samuel Moncada, Venezuela\u2019s UN ambassador, said Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, Maduro\u2019s vice president, had been sworn into office as the acting president.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, State Secretary Marco Rubio said the U.S. was going to enforce an \u201coil quarantine.\u201d <\/p>\n
Here is a timeline of events during Operation Absolute Resolute: <\/p>\n
At about 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 2: President Donald Trump issued the order to move forward with Maduro\u2019s capture. U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan \u201cRazin\u201d Caine said every branch of the U.S. military worked with the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency before Trump moved forward with the mission. <\/p>\n
VENEZUELA Smoke blows after explosions at the La Carlota airport early Saturday morning in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Foto\/Matias Delacroix) (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved) (Matias Delacroix\/AP) <\/p>\n
At about 1 a.m. on Jan. 3: A U.S. military team captured Maduro and Flores, according to Cain.<\/p>\n
At about 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 3: The team, Maduro, and Flores were over the water and landed on the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship.<\/p>\n
At about 4:25 a.m. on Jan. 3: Trump announced the capture and extraction from Venezuela after \u201ca large-scale strike.\u201d <\/p>\n
At about 7:25 a.m. on Jan. 3: U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced the cases against Maduro and Flores, \u201ctwo alleged international narco traffickers,\u201d were in the Southern District of New York. Maduro faced charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States. <\/p>\n
At about 4:45 p.m. on Jan. 3: Maduro and Flores arrived at the Stewart Air National Guard base in Windsor, New York.<\/p>\n
Here is a timeline of some of U.S. actions before Maduro\u2019s capture:<\/p>\n
Nov. 18, 2013: The U.S. Justice Department announced<\/a> that a senior official with the Banco de Desarrollo Econ\u00f3mico y Social de Venezuela, or BANDES, a state-run economic development bank in Venezuela, admitted to corruption involving accounts in Switzerland. <\/p>\n Feb. 13, 2017: The U.S. Treasury announced<\/a> sanctions against Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah<\/a>, who Maduro had appointed as the Venezuelan vice president on Jan. 4, 2017.<\/p>\n May 29, 2019: The State Department announced<\/a> that a Venezuelan-American businessman based in Miami admitted to his role in a bribery scheme involving Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. and the Citgo Petroleum Corporation.<\/p>\n July 25, 2019: The U.S. Justice Department indicted<\/a> Alex Nain Saab Moran<\/a>, a close associate of Maduro, for money laundering related to foreign corruption. <\/p>\n Aug. 5, 2019: The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela reported that nearly 90% of hospitals in Venezuela reported<\/a> shortages of medicine and inconsistent water supplies. <\/p>\n Sept. 17, 2019: The U.S. Treasury announced<\/a> new sanctions related to Saab\u2019s network. <\/p>\n March 26, 2020: The Justice Department announced<\/a> the filing of federal charges against Maduro and 14 current and former Venezuelan officials in New York City, Washington, DC, and Miami. <\/p>\n The State Department announced<\/a> there was a $15 million reward for Maduro\u2019s capture and a $10 million reward<\/a> for El Aissami Maddah<\/a>, the former Venezuelan vice president. <\/p>\n Sept. 29, 2020: The State Department announced there was a $10 million reward<\/a> for Pedro Luis Martin-Olivares, the former chief of the Venezuelan intelligence service. There were also announcements about a $5 million reward<\/a> for Jesus Alfredo Itriago, the former chief of Venezuela\u2019s counter-narcotics agency, and a $5 million reward<\/a> for Rodolfo McTurk-Mora, the former head of Interpol in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Jan. 19, 2021: The State Department announced<\/a> that the U.S. Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control<\/a> had designated and blocked three companies in Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela and identified six vessels allegedly \u201cinvolved in the lifting and transport of Venezuelan oil\u201d in an effort to \u201climit\u201d Maduro\u2019s options.<\/p>\n Nov. 9, 2023: U.S. Department of Agriculture releases the Analysis of the 2022 Venezuela Food Security Situation reporting<\/a> that the economy had declined 88% from 2012 to 2020, and the food supply growth did not fully meet the needs of Venezuelans. <\/p>\n Aug. 1, 2024: The State Department announced<\/a> the U.S. did not recognize Maduro as the winner of the presidential election on July 28, 2024, in Venezuela. <\/p>\n Jan. 10, 2025: The U.S. offers a $25 million reward<\/a> for the capture of Diosdado Cabello Rond\u00f3n, a Venezuelan minister, and a $15 million reward<\/a> for the capture of Vladimir Padrino L\u00f3pez, a Venezuelan four-star general. <\/p>\n Jan. 20, 2025: Trump expands foreign terrorist organizations\u2019 designation. <\/p>\n Feb. 20, 2025: The Trump administration designates Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. <\/p>\n July 25, 2025: The U.S. Treasury announced the Cartel de Los Soles was to be treated as a \u201cspecially designated global terrorist.\u201d<\/p>\n Aug. 7, 2025: State Secretary Marco Rubio announced that the reward for Maduro\u2019s capture had increased to $50 million under the U.S. Narcotics Rewards Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n Aug. 19, 2025: The U.S. Navy deploys three guided-missile destroyers to the southern Caribbean near Venezuela. <\/p>\n Sept. 2, 2025: The U.S. military reported killing 11 drug trafficking suspects during a strike in the Caribbean. After a controversial strike killed the two survivors of an initial strike, more followed on Sept. 15 and 19. <\/p>\n Oct. 2, 2025: Trump declared drug trafficking suspects as \u201cunlawful combatants.\u201d<\/p>\n Oct. 3, 2025: The U.S. military carried out a fourth fatal strike in the Caribbean, a fifth on Oct. 14, a sixth on Oct. 16, a seventh on Oct. 17, an eighth on Oct. 21, a ninth on Oct. 22, and a tenth on Oct. 24. <\/p>\n Oct. 15, 2025: Trump announced that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Oct. 24, 2025: The Pentagon deploys the USS Gerald R. Ford to the southern Caribbean. <\/p>\n Nov. 10, 2025: After several fatal strikes in the Pacific, the Pentagon announced there was a fatal strike in the Caribbean. <\/p>\n Nov. 16, 2025: The USS Gerald R. Ford arrives in the Caribbean. <\/p>\n