Maduro is expected to be taken by helicopter to the city where he will be processed and transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center prison, officials told NBC News.<\/p>\n
They added the Venezuela<\/a> president is set to appear in court by Monday evening.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.34 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few but what I\u2019d really like to talk about is my disastrous predecessor and some pathetic city mayors,\u201d is what Winston Churchill didn\u2019t say during Britain\u2019s war against Adolf Hitler.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Donald Trump fancied himself at his most Churchillian as he hailed the derring-do of US military heroes who toppled Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in an audacious overnight operation<\/a>.<\/p>\n But far from the gravitas of London\u2019s cabinet war rooms or the White House\u2019s situation room, Trump was luxuriating at his winter retreat, the gilded Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he whiles away the days playing golf and the evenings playing DJ.<\/p>\n And while Trump talked at length about the capture of Maduro and vague plans to \u201crun\u201d Venezuela<\/a> in a case of the American empire strikes back, he could not resist upending his moment of glory by airing familiar grievances, from his legal treatment to frustrations with specific officials and a perceived lack of credit for his past actions.<\/p>\n Wearing a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie, the president claimed Maduro had sent \u201csavage and murderous gangs\u201d into the US which, with a weave of the Trump brain, led to a digression on crime in Washington DC, then the role of the national guard, and then how the national guard is doing great work in Memphis and New Orleans.<\/p>\n Suddenly, with a global audience on tenterhooks for the future of Latin America, we were here: \u201cWe also helped, as you know, in Chicago and crime went down a little bit there. We did a very small help because we had no working ability with the governor. The governor was a disaster and the mayor was a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Democratic members of the US Congress said senior officials of president Donald Trump\u2019s administration had misled them during recent briefings about plans for Venezuela by insisting they were not planning regime change in Caracas.<\/p>\n Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democrats\u2019 leader in the Senate, said he had been told in three classified briefings that the administration was not pursuing regime change or planning to take military action in Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey assured me that they were not pursuing those things,\u201d Schumer said on a call with reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly they\u2019re not being straight with the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n Schumer said he had not been briefed by Saturday afternoon and called for the administration to fill in all lawmakers by early next week.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve kept everyone in the total dark,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate armed services committee, said: \u201cNo serious plan has been presented for how such an extraordinary undertaking would work or what it will cost the American people.<\/p>\n \u201cHistory offers no shortage of warnings about the costs \u2013 human, strategic, and moral \u2013 of assuming we can govern another nation by force.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.17 EST<\/p>\n Nicol\u00e1s Maduro \u2018has arrived in New York\u2019<\/p>\n A plane believed to be carrying Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> and his wife, Cilia Flores, has landed near Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York.<\/p>\n Maduro is expected to be taken by helicopter to the city where he will be processed and transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center prison, officials told NBC News.<\/p>\n They added the Venezuela<\/a> president is set to appear in court by Monday evening.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.34 EST<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s oil exports, which had fallen to a minimum amid president Donald Trump\u2019s announced blockade of all sanctioned tankers going in and out of the country\u2019s waters, are now paralysed as port captains have not received requests to authorise loaded ships to set sail, four sources close to operations told Reuters.<\/p>\n Trump said on Saturday that an \u201coil embargo\u201d on the country was in full effect.<\/p>\n Several vessels that have recently loaded crude and fuel bound for destinations including the US and Asia have not set sail, while others that had waited to load have left empty, according to monitoring data.<\/p>\n No tankers were loading on Saturday at the country\u2019s main oil port of Jose, TankerTrackers.com said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.14 EST<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s prime minister, Keir Starmer, has backed a transition of power in Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said his Labour administration would \u201cshed no tears\u201d over the end of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s regime and said Britain would discuss the \u201cevolving situation\u201d with American counterparts over the coming days.<\/p>\n Starmer said in a statement: \u201cThe UK has long supported a transition of power in Venezuela.<\/p>\n \u201cWe regarded Maduro as an illegitimate president and we shed no tears about the end of his regime.<\/p>\n \u201cI reiterated my support for international law this morning.<\/p>\n \u201cThe UK government will discuss the evolving situation with US counterparts in the days ahead as we seek a safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people.\u201d<\/p>\n Starmer earlier refused to be drawn on whether the US military action broke international law, saying he wanted to talk to president Donald Trump<\/a>, with whom he had not spoken on Saturday morning, and allies to \u201cestablish the facts\u201d.<\/p>\n About 500 UK nationals are in Venezuela and work is continuing to \u201csafeguard\u201d them, the prime minister said, while the UK\u2019s Foreign Office advised against all travel to the country.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you know, I always say and believe we should all uphold international law, but I think at this stage, fast-moving situation, let\u2019s establish the facts and take it from there,\u201d Starmer told broadcasters.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.49 EST<\/p>\n Summary: the day so far<\/p>\n It\u2019s been an incredibly dramatic day so far but a confusing one, in the US and Venezuela, as the world watches the aftermath of a lightning military strike overnight that resulted in Nicol\u00e1s Maduro being captured by US forces and taken to an American aircraft carrier in handcuffs. The toppled Venezuelan president was en route to New York early on Saturday, where the Trump administration<\/a> has promised to bring him up in court, indicted on drug trafficking and other federal criminal offenses. He could arrive later the same day, even. Donald Trump claims the US is now running Venezuela, with the remaining regime\u2019s cooperation \u2013 a claim sharply contrasted by Maduro\u2019s vice-president, talking on TV from Caracas a little earlier.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s where things stand:<\/p>\n The United Nations security council is due to hold<\/a> an emergency meeting on Monday as a result of the United States attacking Venezuela early on Saturday and snatching up its president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, holding him en route to New York where it will confront him with federal criminal charges related to drug trafficking and weapons.<\/p>\n Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s vice-president in Venezuela, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, a loyalist, has appeared on television and radio there, from the capital Caracas, contradicting<\/a> Donald Trump\u2019s description of her now being president and cooperating with the US. She said Maduro was Venezuela\u2019s \u201conly\u201d president and that Venezuela would not be colonized.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez appears to be in Caracas. This followed<\/a> hours of rumors that she might have been in Russia or parts unknown, but not in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Donald Trump called Cuba a failing nation<\/a>, and US secretary of state Marco Rubio called the communist-run island, from which his parents fled to the US in the 1950s, a \u201cdisaster\u201d. Both hinted that they could reprise their action in Venezuela in Cuba, but made no direct threats.<\/p>\n Trump was asked about his current thoughts<\/a> on Russian president Vladimir Putin and the ongoing war perpetrated by that country in Ukraine. Trump said he was \u201cnot thrilled\u201d with Putin and called the war a bloodbath.<\/p>\n Donald Trump said he and his administration have not talked<\/a> to Venezuela\u2019s exiled opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado since the capture of Maduro. He took on a dismissive tone and said she would not run Venezuela as she did not have the necessary support or respect in the country. It was unclear whether he was talking about the Venezuelan regime or the general population. Machado won the latest Nobel Peace prize.<\/p>\n United Nations secretary general Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said the Trump administration was setting a \u201cdangerous precedent\u201d with its unilateral action inside Venezuela. He later said he thought the US had probably breached the founding charter of the UN.<\/p>\n At a press conference in Florida, Trump said that US oil companies will take control of Venezuela\u2019s state oil operation. There has been no confirmation of anything like this from US oil companies, nor how such an arrangement would work.<\/p>\n Donald Trump claimed<\/a> at his press conference earlier that the United States is \u201cgoing to run\u201d Venezuela<\/a> for the time being. He gave no specific details about how that might happen, later implying the remains of the Maduro regime were cooperating with US leadership \u2013 something soon after contradicted by Venezuela\u2019s vice president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n Trump posted a picture<\/a> on his Truth Social platform that he states is \u201cNicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima\u201d, which appeared to show the captured Venezuelan president in handcuffs, black goggles and headphones, clutching a water bottle, expressionless.<\/p>\n The US Department of Justice unsealed<\/a> a fresh version of a federal criminal indictment of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. He was indicted by the US in 2020. The superseding indictment now includes his wife and son.<\/p>\n Trump confirmed that the Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> and his wife, Cilia Flores, were heading to New York. Trump told Fox News on Saturday that Maduro and his wife were taken to a ship after their capture by US forces and were headed to the US city.<\/p>\n US attorney general Pam Bondi said the deposed Venezuelan leader and his wife would face criminal charges after an indictment in New York. Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple will \u201csoon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts\u201d.<\/p>\n The United States is going to be \u201cvery strongly involved\u201d in Venezuela\u2019s oil industry after the operation to capture Maduro, Trump told Fox News on Saturday. He said: \u201cWe have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we\u2019re going to be very much involved in it.\u201d<\/p>\n The US vice-president JD Vance hailed what he called a \u201ctruly impressive operation\u201d in Venezuela that culminated in the capture of Maduro. Posting<\/a> on social media as he reshared Trump\u2019s post about the action, Vance wrote: \u201cThe president offered multiple off-ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n The US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in a post on X that Maduro is \u201cunder indictment for pushing drugs in the United States\u201d. The Republican US senator Mike Lee said on Saturday that Rubio had told him that he \u201canticipates no further action in Venezuela<\/a> now that Maduro is in US custody\u201d.<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s government urged citizens to rise up against the US assault and said Washington risked plunging Latin America into chaos with \u201can extremely serious\u201d act of \u201cmilitary aggression\u201d. \u201cThe entire country must mobilise to defeat this imperialist aggression,\u201d it added. It accused the US of launching a series of attacks against civilian and military targets in the South American country, after explosions rocked its capital, Caracas, before dawn on Saturday.<\/p>\n Explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas in the early hours of Saturday. In its statement, Venezuela\u2019s government confirmed that the city had come under attack, as had three other states: Miranda, La Guaira and Aragua.<\/p>\n Venezuela has accused the US of trying to \u201cseize control\u201d of the country\u2019s resources, in particular its oil and minerals. The country has called on the international community to denounce what it called a flagrant violation of international law that put millions of lives at risk.<\/p>\n The president of neighbouring Colombia, Gustavo Petro, called for an immediate emergency session of the UN security council, saying on social media that Venezuela<\/a> had come under attack.<\/p>\n UK prime minister Keir Starmer has reacted to Donald Trump\u2019s military action in Venezuela saying: \u201cThe UK was not involved in any way in this operation.\u201d He added that \u201cwe should all uphold international law\u201d. France said the US military operation that resulted in the capture of Maduro went against the principles of international law.<\/p>\n Russia has demanded \u201cimmediate\u201d clarification about the circumstances of the capture of Maduro during an attack ordered by Trump. Earlier, Venezuela\u2019s vice-president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, said the US needed to provide \u201cproof of life\u201d for Maduro.<\/p>\n Venezuelan allies Russia, Cuba and Iran were quick to condemn the strikes as a violation of sovereignty. Tehran urged the UN security council to stop the \u201cunlawful aggression\u201d. Among major Latin American nations, Argentina\u2019s president Javier Milei lauded Venezuela\u2019s new \u201cfreedom\u201d while Mexico condemned the intervention and Brazil\u2019s president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva said it crossed \u201can unacceptable line\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.03 EST<\/p>\n Leaning on Fortune here, briefly, for some context about the oil. As the magazine points out in this article<\/a>: Trump has repeatedly said he wanted the Venezuelan oil back that was expropriated from American operators during George W Bush\u2019s second term. During his press conference, he called it the \u201clargest theft of property in the history of our country\u201d.<\/p>\n Democratic congressman Seth Moulton, a member of the House armed services committee, said on CNN a little earlier that Trump was now \u201ctrying to steal\u201d Venezuela\u2019s oil.<\/p>\n He also balked at the White House suggestion that Congress was not told about the US military action in Venezuela beforehand because of fear of leaks. He said his committee, for one, hadn\u2019t leaked under Trump. He accused the White House of lying to the committee, having, he said, told them he was not interested in regime change in Venezuela or a US military intervention in Venezuela. \u201cEvery step of the way, he and [Marco] Rubio have lied about what is going on here,\u201d Moulton said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.10 EST<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Moncada, has echoed other leaders and geopolitics experts today in saying that the US\u2019s unilateral military action in Venezuela and capture of the country\u2019s president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, breaches the founding charter of the UN.<\/p>\n Specifically the section of the charter that states: \u201cAll members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.\u201d<\/p>\n The UN secretary general, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, put out a statement via his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, that said, Reuters reports:<\/p>\n The Secretary-General continues to emphasize the importance of full respect \u2013 by all \u2013 of international law, including the UN Charter. He\u2019s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.<\/p>\n The US ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, has posted on X that what the US has done is \u201cnot regime change, this is justice\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.01 EST<\/p>\n United Nations to hold emergency security council meeting<\/p>\n The UN security council is due to meet on Monday as a result of the United States attacking Venezuela early on Saturday and snatching up its president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, holding him en route to New York where it will confront him with federal criminal charges related to drug trafficking and weapons.<\/p>\n Colombia, backed by Russia and China, requested the meeting of the 15-member council, diplomats said, and Reuters just reported. There had earlier been a post on X about it by the Associated Press, but we had been awaiting confirmation.<\/p>\n The UN security council, based in New York, has met twice \u2013 in October and December \u2013 over the escalating tensions between the US and Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington would run Venezuela, with the cooperation of the remains of Maduro\u2019s regime \u2013 a claim sharply contradicted by Maduro\u2019s vice-president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, from Caracas a short while ago, as the situation became only murkier.<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s UN ambassador, Samuel Moncada, wrote to the UN security council on Saturday:<\/p>\n This is a colonial war aimed at destroying our republican form of government, freely chosen by our people, and at imposing a puppet government that allows the plundering of our natural resources, including the world\u2019s largest oil reserves,.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.47 EST<\/p>\n Donald Trump earlier declared that US oil giants are primed to spend \u201cbillions and billions of dollars\u201d on the Venezuelan oil industry\u200b.\u200b<\/p>\n But none of those companies have commented on the US president\u2019s claims that they plan to invest heavily in the country after the capture by US forces early on Saturday of the Venezuelan president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chevron, the only major US oil company currently authorized to operate in Venezuela<\/a>, stated it was following \u201call relevant laws\u201d on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cChevron remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cWe continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump suggested US oil firms will \u201cfix\u201d Venezuela\u2019s vast market, enabling the ramp-up of production. \u201cWe\u2019re in the oil business,\u201d he said during his press conference at Mar-a-Lago. \u201cWe\u2019ll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n He did not elaborate on how any such plans could be manifested.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.28 EST<\/p>\n The UN security council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the situation in Venezuela<\/a>, according to an Associated Press post on X. We await details.<\/p>\n Several international leaders have been calling today for the global body to hold such a meeting, at its headquarters in New York, after the military intervention in Venezuela overnight and the capture by US forces of the country\u2019s president, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>.<\/p>\n Maduro is handcuffed on an American aircraft carrier, currently on its way to New York, where it could arrive as early as today. The US has pledged that Maduro will appear in federal court in the US to face criminal charges related to drug trafficking.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.23 EST<\/p>\n The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said a little earlier that Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> had \u201cled his country to ruin\u201d, after the US snatched the Venezuelan leader out of the country during a raid on Caracas overnight.<\/p>\n Merz noted Germany had not recognised the last Venezuelan election in 2024 as it was \u201crigged\u201d and that Maduro had \u201cplayed a problematic role in the region\u201d, including by \u201centangling Venezuela<\/a> in the drug trade\u201d, Agence France-Presse reports.<\/p>\n But he also said that the legal aspects of the US actions were \u201ccomplex\u201d, and in general \u201cthe principles of international law must apply in relations between states\u201d.<\/p>\n Merz added:<\/p>\n Political instability must not be allowed to arise in Venezuela now.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.07 EST<\/p>\n Here is more from Venezuela\u2019s vice-president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n She has condemned the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> by the US, calling it an \u201cunprecedented military aggression\u201d, and demanded the \u201cimmediate release\u201d of the dictator and his wife, Cilia Flores.<\/p>\n She delivered a televised address a few hours after the US president, Donald Trump<\/a>, said at a press conference that Rodr\u00edguez had held a lengthy conversation with the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and that she was \u201cessentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again\u201d.<\/p>\n Maduro\u2019s vice-president, who has been in office since 2018, nonetheless maintained the critical tone adopted by all members of Maduro\u2019s cabinet since the first reports of the US\u2019s overnight bombardment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government of the US launched an unprecedented military aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. It constitutes a terrible stain on the development of bilateral relations through that military operation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She added that Venezuela \u201cwill never again be anyone\u2019s colony \u2013 neither of old empires, nor of new empires, nor of empires in decline\u201d.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez also echoed an argument repeatedly made by Maduro before his capture: that they believe the real objective of the four-month-long US military pressure had never been a supposed \u201cwar on drugs\u201d, but rather \u201cregime change\u201d and the \u201cseizure of our energy, mineral and natural resources\u201d.<\/p>\n The vice-president said the \u201cVenezuelan people \u2026 are outraged by the illegal and illegitimate kidnapping of the president and the first lady\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe call on the Venezuelan people to remain calm and to face this together, in perfect national unity. Let this popular, military and police fusion become a single body as we enter this crucial phase of defending our sovereignty and our national independence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez also urged other countries to unite, warning that \u201cwhat they did to Venezuela today, they can do to anyone. This brutal use of force to bend the will of peoples can be done to any country.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The Guardian has whisked up an express episode of the Politics Weekly America podcast, with our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips<\/a>, explaining the latest about Venezuela.<\/p>\n Have a listen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.53 EST<\/p>\n Venezuela’s Rodriguez rejects Trump portrayal of regime<\/p>\n Reports coming through now from Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s vice-president in Venezuela, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, that contrast sharply from the portrayal given by Donald Trump at the presidential press conference in the US earlier.<\/p>\n There, Trump said he understood she\u2019d be sworn in as president of Venezuela<\/a>, after the US captured and spirited away Maduro, and that she had, essentially, agreed to cooperate with the US because she had no \u201cchoice\u201d.<\/p>\n Now Rodr\u00edguez, a staunch loyalist of Maduro, has appeared on state television and across radio stations in there, saying that Maduro \u201cis Venezuela\u2019s only president\u201d.<\/p>\n She described Maduro as having been kidnapped and called for him and his wife to be freed.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez spoke on state television from Caracas with her brother, national assembly head Jorge Rodr\u00edguez, interior minister Diosdado Cabello, and the foreign and defense ministers, Reuters reports.<\/p>\n Rodr\u00edguez called for calm and unity to defend the country amid Maduro\u2019s \u201ckidnapping\u201d and said Venezuela will never be the colony of any nation.<\/p>\n Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, his vice-president Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, left, and his wife, Cilia Flores, in 2018. Photograph: Ariana Cubillos\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.08 EST<\/p>\n Venezuela’s Delcy Rodr\u00edguez appears to be in Caracas<\/p>\n Wire reports are coming in that Delcy Rodr\u00edguez is in Venezuela<\/a>.<\/p>\n There have been hours of rumors that Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s vice-president may not have been in the country, and even that she may be in Russia. She had been speaking by telephone on state television but her whereabouts were not made public.<\/p>\n Then Donald Trump<\/a> said he understood she\u2019d been sworn in as president of the country to replace Maduro, but without giving details.<\/p>\n Now news agencies are reporting that she\u2019s in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. Reuters just reported that she has just been seen on TV alongside other leading politicians, and her brother.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.32 EST<\/p>\n Camille Rodr\u00edguez Montilla<\/p>\n At a gathering of Venezuelan exiles in Valencia, Spain, the only Since the beginning of the day, WhatsApp groups and cellphones have been going off constantly. As usual in Venezuelan family meetings, all of the conversations crossed, people interrupted each other, and theories were thrown into the air constantly.<\/p>\n The celebratory mood paused for a moment when Donald Trump<\/a> brushed off the suggestion that Nobel peace prize-winning opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado could play a role as, at least, a potential interim leader.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn\u2019t have the support within or the respect within the country,\u201d Trump told reporters at the presidential press conference earlier. \u201cShe\u2019s a very nice woman, but she doesn\u2019t have the respect.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a moment of disappointed silence before one of those Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.33 EST<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an excellent, short video explainer from our Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips<\/a>, who has called the US intervention in Venezuela overnight \u201cone of the most dramatic moments in Latin American history\u201d.<\/p>\n Tom said that he\u2019s never seen anything like this in 25 years reporting on the continent and it is the most dramatic US military action since the invasion of Panama in 1989, and a surprise.<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.09 EST<\/p>\n And the US president was also asked at the press conference about how he could justify capturing Venezuela\u2019s Nicol\u00e1s Maduro when he stunningly pardoned<\/a> the former president of Honduras in December.<\/p>\n Juan Orlando Hern\u00e1ndez was freed from a US prison after having been sentenced to 45 years behind bars for allegedly creating \u201ca cocaine superhighway to the United States\u201d, shocking many<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/David_Smith.png\")
David Smith<\/p>\n![\"Callum](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Callum_Jones.png\")
Callum Jones<\/p>\n![\"Tiago](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Tiago_Rogero.png\")
Tiago Rogero<\/p>\n
subject of conversation was the events in Caracas overnight.<\/p>\n
gathered rationalised the comments away, saying: \u201cHe probably said that regarding the military forces inside the country, not the people.\u201d
Then the celebrations continued.<\/p>\n![\"What](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767480004_556_1600.jpg\")
What we know about the US attack on Venezuela \u2013\u00a0video analysisShare<\/a><\/p>\n