President Donald Trump said the United States has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following strikes on Venezuela.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday morning, Trump said the US had carried out a “large scale strike” on the South American nation and flown Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, out of the country.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi has said that Maduro and Flores have now been indicted in the Southern District of New York.
Maduro has been charged with “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” she said.
A news conference is set to be held from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida from 11 a.m. ET.
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Venezuela said the US had carried out strikes on Caracas and the coastal states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira early Saturday.
Videos circulating on social media appear to show helicopters flying over the capital as multiple explosions ring out in the background.
In a statement, Maduro’s government said the US had targeted both military and civilian areas and called on “all social and political forces” to reject the attacks.
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America,” the statement continued.
It added that the aim of the attack was for the US to “seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, in an attempt to forcibly break the nation’s political independence.”
Vladimir Padrino, Venezuela’s defense minister, said in an update that the government is now gathering information about the number of casualties.
It comes amid mounting tensions between Maduro and Trump, who has repeatedly threatened military action against Venezuela in recent months over alleged drug trafficking networks in the nation. Caracas has maintained that Washington’s true goal is to overthrow the Venezuelan government.
“Far from a supposed fight against narcoterrorism, this deplorable action seeks to definitively force a regime change,” Padrino added of the strikes on Saturday.
Business Insider has contacted the White House and the Pentagon for comment.
This is a developing story. Check back for details.
