United States (U.S) president Donald Trump, on Saturday, January 3, announced that Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife had been arrested and flown out of Venezuela following U.S military air strikes on Caracas carried out hours earlier.
Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social platform on Saturday morning, shortly after loud explosions were reported in Caracas, marking a major escalation in U.S action against the Latin 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.
“This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.”
Trump added that he would give a news conference at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he is nearing the end of a two-week Christmas and new year’s vacation.
Trump’s stunning announcement follows months of steadily mounting U.S military and economic pressure on leftist leader Maduro and his country’s oil-export-dependent economy.
The U.S president said in December that it would be smart for Maduro to step down, and has also said that the Venezuelan leader’s days are numbered.
Trump’s claim of Maduro’s capture comes two days after Maduro attempted to engage with Trump, offering cooperation on fighting drug trafficking and illegal migration.
Trump has given differing arguments for his campaign against Venezuela, including the claim that the country is a major drug exporter to the U.S and that Venezuela seized U.S oil interests.
The Republican leader has not explicitly called for Maduro’s ouster, but the U.S government, along with many European nations, does not recognize the Venezuelan leader’s legitimacy.
A huge naval and aerial presence has been established in the Caribbean, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships.
U.S 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 on Monday said that the U.S had hit and destroyed a docking area for Venezuelan drug boats, in what was the first known strike on Venezuelan soil of the campaign.
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