Live – US attacks Venezuela, Maduro says ‘captured’

As Europe woke up to news of the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the alleged detention of President Nicolas Maduro, several European governments responded by saying they were closely monitoring developments.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Madrid was “closely monitoring events in Venezuela” and called for “de-escalation”. Spanish embassies and consulates are functioning, he said in a post on X.

The Netherlands is also in contact with its embassy in the Netherlands, and Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said the situation was “still uncertain”.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévost said in a post on X that the Belgian embassy in Colombia was in “full mobilization” and was “closely monitoring the situation in coordination with our European partners.”

Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Saturday that the country would “survive” a series of U.S. military strikes that the U.S. government said included the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.

“At the end of these attacks we will be victorious,” Cabello, considered one of the most powerful men in Caracas, told a local television broadcast, adding: “This is not the first time we have fought against the people… We have managed to survive under all circumstances.”

The U.S. government has not yet provided updates on the attack and Maduro’s capture.

In March 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice took the unprecedented step of indicting a sitting head of state, charging Maduro and more than a dozen current and former Venezuelan officials with narcoterrorism, drug trafficking, and firearms crimes.

The indictment remains one of the most significant legal actions ever taken by the U.S. government against a foreign leader.

For more than two decades, President Maduro and his co-conspirators have flooded the United States with cocaine, enriching us and harming our communities while using drug trafficking as a means to maintain power, according to federal prosecutors.

The U.S. Department of Justice initially offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.

The Biden and Trump administrations have since increased that amount to $25 million and $50 million, making it the largest bounty ever imposed on a head of state by U.S. authorities.

President Maduro and the Venezuelan government deny all allegations and use this as a pretext for regime change.

Caracas called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the U.S. attack and the fate of President Nicolas Maduro.

“In the face of the criminal aggression against our homeland by the US government, we have called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which is responsible for upholding international law,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil said on Telegram.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Callas called for restraint on Saturday after a meeting with Washington officials over the US attack on Venezuela.

“I spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and our ambassador in Caracas. The EU is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela,” Caja Callas said in a post on X.

International law must be respected “under all circumstances,” she added.

Residents of Caracas interviewed by Euronews said the situation in the Venezuelan capital had “calmed down” after the strike.

However, authorities say they have set up various checkpoints and deployed security personnel around the city.

Euronews is looking for further details and will update the blog as soon as we have the latest information.

The United States has completed military operations in Venezuela after detaining Nicolas Maduro, a US senator said on Saturday, citing Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who was initially critical of the operation, wrote to X after his phone call with Rubio that he “expects no further action in Venezuela since Mr. Maduro remains in U.S. custody.”

Mr. Maduro was “arrested by U.S. officials to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”

The Venezuelan leader was indicted in the Southern District of New York in March 2020 on charges of “narco-terrorism” conspiracy.

Lee explained that the airstrike was “carried out to protect and protect those carrying out the arrest warrant.”

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said Caracas does not know “the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.”

“We demand living proof,” he added.

As a reminder, President Trump said Maduro was “captured and deported along with his wife. This operation was conducted in coordination with U.S. law enforcement. Details to come.” He set a press conference for later Saturday.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced Saturday that he had ordered the deployment of troops to the Venezuelan border following a U.S. attack that reportedly ended with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Mr Petro described Washington’s actions as an “attack on the sovereignty” of Latin America and said it would trigger a humanitarian crisis.

Mr. Petro suggested the situation could be resolved through “dialogue” but also ordered the “deployment of security forces” to the Venezuelan border, he said in X.

Petro did not mention Maduro’s detention, even though the Venezuelan leader is one of Maduro’s closest allies in the region.

Petro has been a vocal critic of military deployments ordered by President Trump in the Caribbean to combat drug-trafficking ships.

Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said security forces had activated “all their capabilities” to prevent “any attempted terrorist attack” by illegal groups such as the National Liberation Army on the border.

President Trump recently said that as part of his anti-drug strategy, he would not rule out strikes against Colombian drug manufacturing labs, which Petro at the time denounced as a threat of invasion.

Moscow and Iran both condemned the U.S. attack on Venezuela on Saturday in a show of solidarity with Nicolás Maduro, a key South American ally.

In a statement posted on its Telegram channel on Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry labeled the US government’s actions an “act of armed aggression.”

“Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive intervention, much less any external military intervention,” the statement said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the US military attack on Venezuela and gross violation of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Russia relies on Iran for support, especially the supply of drones, in its all-out war against Ukraine, now in its fourth year. Venezuela and Iran have maintained close strategic ties for more than two decades, cooperating on weapons systems and military technology transfers, while Iranian tankers have supplied gasoline to Venezuela during fuel shortages caused by economic collapse and U.S. sanctions.

Relations between the three vessels soured after the United States attempted to seize an Iranian-linked tanker believed to be carrying sanctioned oil. This is the third such seizure by Washington in recent weeks.

The Russian government asked Washington to halt the pursuit after the crew painted the Russian flag on the ship’s hull, according to reports.

US President Donald Trump acknowledged the US attack on Venezuela on Saturday, saying in a post on the social media platform Truth Social that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife had been “captured and exiled.”

“The United States has successfully launched a major attack on Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been detained and exiled, along with his wife,” Trump said.

President Trump said details would come “in the future.”

“There will be a press conference at Mar-a-Lago today at 11:00 a.m. (5:00 p.m. CET). Thank you for your attention to this matter! President Donald J. Trump.”

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said in a video statement shared on social media that Venezuela “will massively deploy all land, air, sea, river and missile capabilities for comprehensive defense.”

Mr. López also accused the United States of raiding a residential area early Saturday morning.

The “invading” US military “desecrated our country’s soil by firing missiles and rockets fired from combat helicopters and attacking residential areas where civilians live,” the statement said.

The United States dramatically escalated its standoff with Venezuela early Saturday, carrying out what President Donald Trump described as a “massive strike” against military targets in and around Caracas.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, President Trump announced that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were “captured and deported” after the operation, which he said was carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.

Residents in Caracas reported hearing at least seven explosions around 2 a.m. local time, and witnesses said major military installations, including La Carlota Airfield and the Fuerte Tiuna military base, were attacked.

The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and called on people to take to the streets.

The attack came as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on President Maduro, who is facing drug-terrorism charges in the United States. Last week, the CIA supported a drone attack on a pier area believed to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels. This is the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US launched its offensive in September.

President Trump has threatened for months that he could soon order attacks on targets inside Venezuelan territory after the attack on a ship suspected of carrying drugs. President Maduro has accused the U.S. military operation of being a thinly veiled effort to remove him from power.