The U.S. strikes Venezuela, captures President Maduro

The United States has struck Venezuela and President Trump says captured its leader.

Trump says President Nicolas Maduro has been flown out of the country.

Our reporters will have the latest on this extraordinary development.

I'm Daniel Estren.

I'm Aisha Roscoe and this is up first from NPR News.

After a months-long campaign to oust the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro,

President Trump says he's come through with his threats.

The White House calls the strikes on the Capitol Caracas large scale.

The U.S. military has been expanding its presence in the Caribbean over the last few months,

but what does it mean to capture a world leader and when has it happened before?

We'll also hear what Venezuelans on the ground have to say.

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The U.S. has bombed Caracas and other areas of Venezuela, and President Trump says the country's

leader has been captured. It comes after months of escalating U.S. pressure, sending troops and

warships to the Caribbean. NPR South America correspondent Kerry Khan joins us now from Rio

Dijonero. Good morning, Kerry. Good morning.

So President Trump said in a social media post that Maduro and his wife are in U.S. custody.

What else do we know? Inside Venezuela, we've heard that confirmed by the Vice President,

Delsi Rodriguez. She's been on state TV via phone all morning. Here's some of that

indignation from her that you were talking about earlier. She's been just saying this non-stop since

the operation took effect.

She's demanding that the U.S. present proof of life that Maduro is still alive and she's

asked the same for his wife. She's also said that she is executing Maduro's defense plans for

the nation that she says were practiced and ready to go. Maduro has long face U.S. federal

charges for narco terrorism in the U.S. says he's involved in drug trafficking and conspiracy

with the cartel de los solas while the international criminal court is investigating him also for

crimes against humanity, including torture and extradicial killings.

Kerry, can we just start from early this morning around 2 a.m. local time? What happened there?

Sure. Reports started flooding social media with videos of multiple explosions throughout the

city and I spoke right away with a reporter Vanessa Silva and she actually lives right in front

of the military airport La Carlota in Caracas and let me just play you her first immediate reactions.

I just wake up with this strong noise, super strong noise. I see the explosion. It was the

endominal of the runway. She says relatives throughout the city were also reporting explosions

and Caracas is in a valley and so she said you could hear explosions echoing throughout

there and she said she was just terrified. The house wasn't shaking but I was and then I hear like

airplanes. She says there were several fires on the runway but they were put out quickly but she

could hear airplanes continuing to circle around the Caracas guys for hours. Well it's incredibly

here that eyewitness account from someone who lives right near the airport. What do we know about

the targets that were hit? Beside the La Carlota military airport in the complex, a government

statement was put out listing attacks in three other states but it didn't go into details

and the defense minister of Vladimir Pradirino put out a defiant video statement this morning

describing the operation here's a bit of that. He describes U.S. helicopters firing missiles on

what he says were not only military targets but also civilian neighborhoods but he did not

provide any evidence from that. And so tell us more about what reaction has been around the region

in Latin America and around the world. It's been swift Cuba's president Miguel Diaz Canal

condemned the U.S. strike he called it criminal Colombia's president Gustavo Petro says his forces

are being deployed to the border with Venezuela and he's preparing for a potential influx of refugees

from there. He's called for an urgent meeting of the U.S. Security Council. Trump allies in the

region are praising the action we've heard from president Javier Miele of Argentina who'd celebrated

the capture of Nicolás Maduro. He says liberty advances he wrote that on social media

and curiously though we have not heard from the leading opposition figure Maria Corina Machado.

Remember she just won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in Venezuela. She left Venezuela last

month and we're not sure where she is right now and we're waiting to hear from her.

Kerry briefly what are you going to be looking for as the hour is unfold and the days unfold ahead?

Well it's it's curious because we really want to see what's going to happen who's going to step

up and place the vice president like I said has been on state TV saying that there are plans

in place and she will execute those plans as Maduro has said but we really want to see what's

going to happen with the structure and the military structures particularly in Venezuela.

You know it's not just Maduro who's the figurehead and the power in Venezuela his military

back regime relies on a network of officials accused of corruption and drug trafficking

and the defense minister who's been out in front of a lot of this Vladimir Pudrino he's

top of that list and Venezuela also has vast support from Cuba China and Russia so we're going

to watch all of that and we will be coming back to you frequently thank you so much NPR's Kerry con.

You're welcome the US has long accused Venezuela's president Nicholas Maduro of being the leader

of a violent drug cartel and president trump has made it a priority to oust him since he came back

to office attorney general Pam Bondi said that the Venezuelan leader and his wife have been

indicted in the southern district of New York NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonia joins

us now good morning Franco could be here Daniel just bring us up to speed from your beat at the

White House yeah I mean I think what we've heard so far especially from Kerry I mean this really

just follows such a major build up in US military power in the region as we've been reporting the

US has been building them including an aircraft carrier other warships thousands of troops this

build up was first focused on alleged drug boats but more recently the US actually seized an oil

tanker and then there was a land strike on a port in Venezuela so the US was already taking quite

unprecedented action but this is quite a new development I mean for US special forces to go into

another country's capital and capture the sitting leader taking out and bring him to the United States

that's really quite staggering of course as we just heard the Venezuelan government is denouncing

the strikes and it's just bringing back such memories of the capture of Panamanium dictator Manuel

Noriega by the George HW Bush administration more than 30 years ago so what are we hearing so far

this morning from the White House well the president said the military operation was carried out

in conjunction with the U.S. law enforcement and that more details would be shared later at his

11 a.m. news conference which you'll have at his Mar-a-Lago resort his home the White House is not

responded to queries about where Maduro and his wife are being flown to but Trump did call the

strikes a brilliant operation in a brief interview with the New York Times Senator Mike Lee actually

said he spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio who told him that Maduro would stand trial on

criminal charges in the U.S. and that the quote kinetic action that we saw tonight was a

deployed to actually protect those executing the arrest warrant Lee also said that Rubio told him

and he posted this on social media that he did not anticipate further action in Venezuela now that

Maduro's in U.S. custody. What exactly are the U.S. allegations against Maduro? Well Attorney General

Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the southern district of New York on a

variety of charges including narco terrorism and he was actually a Maduro that is was indicted

first six years ago accused of narco terrorism and weapons trafficking and last summer the Trump

administration doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro's capture to 50 million dollars.

Okay Maduro is known as a brutal dictator he was alleged to have stolen the last election

seems like a moment for many to celebrate there is still a lot of concern as well though.

Yeah for sure I mean for many people in Venezuela this is going to be a moment to celebrate

but there is also a lot of uncertainty I was speaking with Mark Fierstein who advised multiple

administrations on Latin America he said Trump can claim victory for capturing someone indicted long ago

the question in though is how much further is he willing to go. This is a reason for caution

because it could be disappointment if the regime stays in power. And what are we hearing from

authorities in Caracas? Yeah I mean as we just heard from Carrie the Venezuelan vice president

Delci Rodriguez told state TV that she didn't know where Maduro was and was calling for a proof of

life there's a state of emergency as well that's been called. What steps is the United States

outlining now? Yeah I mean I'm going to be watching the president's press conference later today

to see what he has to say. Of course what steps is the US going to take to make sure the

Venezuelan infrastructure doesn't crumble. I mean it is really a delicate moment where we just

don't know how things are going to turn out. I mean in addition to where this leaves Venezuela

Daniel there's also this big question about how Trump's own supporters are going to feel about

this overseas act such an aggressive act. I mean Trump came to power with an America first

agenda and so far this term his international focus has really alienated some of his supporters.

So I expect we're going to be hearing a lot from Trump supporters and there's going to be a new

debate among them as well as a Republican party as well as Congress is coming back so there's

going to be a lot of questions about that as well. Okay we'll leave it there that's White House

correspondent Franco Ordonia's thank you Franco. Thank you Daniel.

President Trump says Venezuela's leader Nicholas Maduro has been taken outside of

Caracas. Maduro is expected to be brought to the US where he will be facing charges of drug

smuggling and other crimes. For more we are joined by NPR National Security correspondent Greg

Myrie. Good morning Greg. Hi Daniel. Gosh this happened in just a few hours but after months of

US military buildup Phyllis in on the latest. So the US launched this operation in the middle of

the night explosions rang out in the Capitol Caracas helicopters were crisscrossing the sky

photos from a military base on the Capitol or the edge of the Capitol showed smoke rising from a

hanger residence and in that part of the city said they heard many loud explosions early in the

morning according to the Venezuela government. The US military also struck in other parts of

Northern Venezuela near the Caribbean coast and then a couple hours later President Trump took

to true social and he wrote quote the United States has successfully carried out a large-scale

strike against Venezuela and its leader President Nicholas Maduro who has been along with his wife

captured and flown out of the country. Now a US official who's not authorized to speak publicly

told NPR that the operation was considered successful and there were no US military casualties.

The president hasn't provided additional details but as you noted Daniel he is planning a press

conference or at least make additional remarks later this morning. Do we know where Maduro is right now?

Well not exactly. We know he's being flown to the US but not exactly where. Attorney General

Pam Bondi said he'll face charges in New York. He was indicted on drug charges back in 2020.

Utah's Republican Senator Mike Lee wrote on on X that he spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio

and was informed that Maduro will stand trial on criminal charges in the US. Now it's worth noting

has not been done with any declaration of war, congressional authorization, of force and Venezuela's

vice president Delsey Rodriguez has been on TV demanding evidence of Maduro's well-being and she

said there have been casualties in Venezuela. Greg with Maduro Gone, who is running Venezuela?

Well it appears to be the vice president we just mentioned Delsey Rodriguez who would become

an interim president assuming the US will allow her to remain in office. Now the country's

defense minister says the country is under attack and has urged troops to defend the country but at

this point the US operation appears to be over at least for now but there's still the question

about what will many of the Maduro loyalists do. Will they try to stay and defend the country

and the government? Will they flee? What will Venezuela's military do? We don't know and we should

also mention Maria Carrita Machado. She's the Venezuelan woman who recently won the Nobel Peace Prize

and has been an opposition leader. She left the country so her exact whereabouts are not known

and it's not clear what role she might play. Are we expecting the US military to play a further role?

Well at this point we don't know for sure but the immediate action appears to be over. Of course

US still has this large force that was being built up for months basically since around August.

We're talking about a dozen or more ships including the USS Gerald Ford, the world's largest

aircraft carrier, perhaps 15,000 troops in the region so we'll be looking to see if the US continues

with any action against drug smuggling boats against oil tankers or if in fact this

operation may be over. And PR's Greg Meyer, thank you Greg. Sure thing Daniel.

And that's up first for Saturday, January 3rd, 2026. I'm Daniel S. Trima.

And I'm Aisha Roscoe. Elena Twork produced today's podcast along with Mia Dumas, Fernando Narrow,

Dave Mystic, and Chad Campbell. It was edited by Hadil Owshouchi, Taranille, D. Parvas,

and Andrew Susman. Danny Hensel is the director. Our technical director was David Greenberg

with engineering support from Zoe Vandenhoeven, J.S. and Simon Lazlow-Jansson.

Our senior supervising editor is Shannon Rhodes. Evie Stone is our executive producer and Jim Kane

is our deputy managing editor. Tomorrow on the Sunday story worried about political unrest,

liberals in the U.S. are starting to buy guns. We'll dive into the changing face of gun ownership.

For all the breaking news like we had today and many other stories that open your mind,

tune in to NPR, find your local station at stations dot NPR dot work.

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