cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/52748400
President Donald Trump claimed early Saturday that the U.S. had spirited Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of the country and taken him into custody, marking a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s regime change efforts.
Hours after airstrikes lit up the night sky across the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Trump claimed credit for the attacks and said that Maduro had been taken into U.S. custody.
“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 wrote on Truth Social. “This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.”
The U.S. has not made such a direct intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega.
Asked what the future held for the Venezuelan people on Saturday morning, Trump said the U.S. would decide its fate. “We’re making that decision now. We can’t take a chance on letting somebody else run it,” Trump said on Fox News. “So we’re making that decision now. We’ll be involved in it very much.”
According to CBS News, the operation to capture the 63-year-old Maduro was carried out by Delta Force, the elite unit of the U.S. Army special operations. According to Sky News, sources within the Venezuelan opposition described the capture as a “negotiated exit.”
Negotiated exit?
At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time Saturday in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. The government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states. Venezuela’s government, in the statement, called on its supporters to take to the streets.“People to the streets!” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.” The statement added that President Nicolás Maduro had “ordered all national defense plans to be implemented” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.