The US attacks Venezuela, saying its leader, Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country: LIVE

CARACAS, Venezuela — The United States hit Venezuela early Saturday with a “major attack” and said its president, Nicolás Maduro, had been captured and flown out of the country after months of increased pressure from Washington – an extraordinary overnight operation that President Donald Trump announced on social media hours after the attack.

Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying planes flew through Caracas, the capital, as Maduro’s government immediately accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations. The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.

It was not immediately clear who was running the country, and Maduro’s whereabouts were not immediately known. Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET. Under Venezuelan law, the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power. There was no confirmation that this had happened, although she did make a statement after the strike.

“We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said. “We demand proof of life.”

Maduro, Trump said, “was captured along with his wife and flown out of the country. This operation was conducted in coordination with U.S. law enforcement. Details to follow.” He scheduled a press conference for later Saturday morning.

The legal implications of the strike under U.S. law were not immediately clear. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X that he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who informed him of the strike. Rubio told Lee that Maduro “has been arrested by American personnel to face criminal charges in the United States.”

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about where Maduro and his wife were being flown. Maduro was charged in March 2020 with conspiracy to commit “narco-terrorism” in the Southern District of New York.

Maduro last appeared on state television on Friday during a meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.

The explosions in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, early on the third day of 2026 – at least seven blasts – sent people running into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the explosions. It was not immediately clear whether there were casualties on either side. The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and it was unclear whether more actions were in store, although Trump said in his post that the attacks had been carried out “successfully.”

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a ban on US commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace due to “ongoing military activity” leading up to the explosions.

The strike came after months of increasing pressure on Maduro by the Trump administration. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week on a dock believed to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels – the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began attacking in September.

For months, Trump had threatened that he would soon order attacks on targets in Venezuelan territory, following months of attacks on boats accused of transporting drugs. Maduro has labeled the US military operations as a thinly veiled attempt to oust him from power.

Some streets in Caracas are filling up

Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets in a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other parts of the city, streets remained empty for hours after the attack. Parts of the city were without power, but vehicles could move freely.

Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and smoke clouding the landscape sky as repeated muffled explosions lit up the night sky. Other images showed an urban landscape with cars driving along a highway as explosions lit up the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversations could be heard in the background. The videos have been verified by The Associated Press.

Smoke could be seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.

“The whole ground shook. This is terrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice shaking. She was walking briskly with two relatives and returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the sky was hitting us.”

The Venezuelan government responded to the attack with a call to action. “People take to the streets!” it said in a statement. “The Bolivarian government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and reject this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that Maduro had “ordered the implementation of all national defense plans” and declared “a state of external disruption.” That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.

The website of the US Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, warned US citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”

“American citizens in Venezuela should take shelter there,” the warning said.

The reaction occurs slowly

Questions to the Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command since Trump’s social media post went unanswered. The FAA warned all commercial and private U.S. pilots that the airspace over Venezuela and the small island of Curacao, just off the country’s northern coast, was off limits “due to the security risks associated with continued military activities.”

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted his potential concerns and reflected a view from the right flank in Congress. “I look forward to learning what could constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” Lee said on X.

It was not clear whether the US Congress had been officially notified of the strikes.

The Armed Services Committees in both houses of Congress, which have jurisdiction over military matters, have not been notified by the administration of any action, according to a person familiar with the matter who was granted anonymity to discuss it.

Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have expressed strong reservations and clear objections to U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling on boats near the Venezuelan coast, and Congress has not specifically authorized the use of military force for such operations in the region.

There was no immediate regional response in the early hours of Saturday. However, Cuba, a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime opponent of the United States, called on the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called “the criminal attack.” “Our peace zone is being brutally attacked,” he said on X. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also condemned the attacks.

President Javier Milei of Argentina praised his close ally Trump’s claim that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often uses to celebrate right-wing progress: “Long live freedom, dammit!”

The US military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat attacks stands at 35 and the number of deaths at least 115, according to figures announced by the Trump administration.

They followed a major buildup of U.S. forces in the waters off South America, including the November arrival of the country’s most advanced aircraft carrier, adding thousands of additional troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.

Trump has justified the boat attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the US, claiming the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

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Toropin and AP journalist Lisa Mascaro reported from Washington.