Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was arrested following US strikes in Caracas, Trump said

The United States hit Venezuela with a “massive strike” early Saturday and said its president, Nicolás Maduro, had been kidnapped and flown out of the country after months of pressure from Washington – a dramatic overnight move announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.

Dozens of fireworks went off and low-flying planes swept over Caracas, the oil-rich nation’s capital, as Maduro’s government quickly accused the United States of attacking civilian and military targets. The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.

At the moment it was not clear who was in charge of the country, and Maduro’s whereabouts were not known. Trump announced the development on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 am ET. Under Venezuelan law the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, will take over. There is no evidence of what happened, although he issued a statement after the strike.

“We don’t know where President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores are,” Rodriguez said. “We want proof of life.”

Maduro, Trump said, “was together with his wife, they were kidnapped and expelled from the country. This operation was carried out in cooperation with US Law Enforcement. Details will follow.” He called a news conference later on Saturday morning. The legal impact of the strike under American law was unclear.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about where Maduro and his wife were being flown, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Maduro would face criminal charges in the US.

Fireworks in Caracas – at least seven explosions – sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing explosions. It was not clear if there were any casualties. The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and it was not immediately clear if further action would be taken, although Trump said in his post that the strikes were “successful.”

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban on US commercial flights in Venezuela’s airspace due to “ongoing military activity” before the explosion.

The strike comes after the Trump administration spent months increasing pressure on Maduro. The CIA conducted a pilot strike last week in an area believed to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels.

It had been months since Trump threatened that he would soon order strikes on the target areas in the country of Venezuela following months of attacks on boats suspected of carrying drugs. Maduro has delamented US military operations as undercover attempts to remove him from power.

Some streets in Caracas are congested

Armed people and uniformed members of the regular army took to the streets of the Caracas neighborhood that had long been 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 remained without electricity, but vehicles were able to move freely.

Video obtained from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed trails and smoke covering the area as repeated, muted explosions lit up the night sky. Other images showed a city scene with cars driving by on a freeway as the explosion lit up the hills behind them. A muffled conversation could be heard in the background. Videos verified by the Associated Press.

Smoke could be seen rising from the waiting area of ​​a military base in Caracas, while other military installations in the capital were powerless.

“It shook everywhere. This is terrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice shaking. He was walking quickly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “We felt like the wind was hitting us.”

The Venezuelan government responded to the attack and said that action must be taken. “People are going to the streets!” said the statement. “The Bolivarian government asks all the social and political forces in the country to work on mobilization programs and fight against this imperialist attack.”

The statement added that Maduro “ordered all national defense systems to be deployed” and declared a “state of external disturbance.” That crisis gives him the power to freeze human rights and expand the role of the military.

The website of the US Embassy in Venezuela, which has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to US citizens in the country, saying it is “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”

“American citizens in Venezuela should be sheltered in place,” the warning said.

The reaction comes early Saturday

Inquiries to the Pentagon and the US Southern Command since Trump’s social media posts went unanswered. The FAA warned all US commercial and private pilots that airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, near the country’s coast to the north, was off limits “due to flight safety risks associated with ongoing military activity.”

US Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted his potential concerns, reflecting a view from the right wing of Congress. “I look forward to learning what, if anything, would justify this action constitutionally other than a declaration of war or authorization of the use of military force,” Lee told X.

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

Lawmakers of both political parties in Congress have raised serious doubts and expressed opposition to US attacks on boats suspected of smuggling drugs near the coast of Venezuela and Congress has not specifically authorized the use of military forces to carry out such operations in the region.

The county’s response was not immediate early Saturday morning. Cuba, however, a supporter of Maduro’s government and a longtime enemy of the US, has called on the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called a “criminal attack.” “Our place of peace is being brutally attacked,” he told X. Iran’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei praised his close ally Trump’s claim that Maduro was taken by a political slogan he often uses to celebrate right-wing developments: “Long live freedom, dammit!”

A state of closely guarding the world

The European Union has repeatedly said that Maduro “lacks authenticity,” said the bloc’s spokesperson Kaja Kallas on Saturday, adding that he called for restraint and respect for international law regarding the situation.

“The EU … has defended a peaceful transition. Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We want to hold back,” Kallas told X, adding that he had spoken with Rubio.

Several other world leaders, including those from Italy, Belgium, Indonesia and Germany, have confirmed that they are monitoring the situation on the ground and are in contact with relevant embassies.

CBC News has reached out to Global Affairs Canada and will update this story when contacted.

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 strikes is 35 and the death toll is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

They follow a major buildup of U.S. forces in South American waters, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, adding thousands of troops to what was already the region’s largest military force in generations.

Trump justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs to the US and asserted that the US was facing an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.