Live Updates: U.S. Captures Venezuelan Leader, Trump Says

PinnedUpdated Anatoly Kurmanaev and Anatoly Kurmanaev reported from Venezuela, and Tyler Pager from West Palm Beach, Fla.Here’s the latest.President Trump said on Saturday that the United States had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and was flying him out of Venezuela, in what would be a stunning culmination to a monthslong campaign by Mr. Trump’s administration to oust the authoritarian leader.Mr. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, his social media platform, and said that the United States had carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” in an operation that was conducted “in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.” He said that Mr. Maduro’s wife had also been captured.In a brief phone interview with The New York Times after the announcement, Mr. Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture the Venezuelan president. “A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” he said. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”When asked if he had sought congressional authority for the operation or what is next for Venezuela, Mr. Trump said he would address those matters during a news conference at 11 a.m. at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla.Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, speaking on a state-run television station after Mr. Trump’s announcement, said that Mr. Maduro’s location was unknown and asked Mr. Trump for proof of life.Earlier on Saturday, the government of Venezuela accused the United States of carrying out military attacks in the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country after large explosions were reported at a military base in the city.The Venezuelan government declared a state of emergency in response to the attacks and said they had occurred in Caracas and in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, according to a statement from the Venezuelan communications ministry.Venezuela “rejects, repudiates and denounces” U.S. military aggression, the statement said. It also called on “on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”For months, Mr. Trump issued threats, warnings and accusations of drug smuggling against Mr. Maduro, whom the State Department has branded the head of a “narco-terrorist” state.U.S. officials have called Mr. Maduro, a self-described socialist who has led Venezuela since 2013, an illegitimate leader and have accused him of controlling criminal groups tied to drug trafficking, charges he denies.Since late August, the Pentagon has amassed troops, aircraft and warships in the Caribbean. The U.S. military has attacked many small vessels that U.S. officials maintained were smuggling drugs, killing at least 115 people. And the C.I.A. conducted a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela last month, according to people briefed on the operation.A broad range of experts on the use of lethal force have said that the strikes on small vessels amount to illegal extrajudicial killings, but the Trump administration has asserted they are consistent with the laws of war because the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with drug cartels.In recent weeks, the United States has also carried out a campaign against tankers carrying Venezuelan crude, throwing the country’s oil industry into disarray and jeopardizing the government’s main source of revenue.The United States seized one sanctioned tanker carrying oil as it sailed from Venezuela toward Asia. It intercepted another oil vessel that was not under U.S. sanctions. And the U.S. Coast Guard tried to board a third tanker as it was on the way to Venezuela to pick up cargo.Here is what else to know:Maduro’s security: Before the U.S. operation on Saturday, the Venezuelan president had tightened his inner circle and taken to changing beds in an attempt to protect himself from a potential targeted strike or a special-forces raid.U.S. buildup: Last month, C-17 cargo planes — largely used for transporting military troops and equipment — conducted at least 16 flights to Puerto Rico from American military bases, according to flight tracking data. The U.S. Southern Command has said that some 15,000 troops are already deployed in the Caribbean, one of the largest naval deployments to the region in decades.Cartel accusations: In March 2020, Mr. Maduro was indicted in the United States on charges that he oversaw a violent drug organization known as Cartel de los Soles. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Mr. Maduro is actually at odds with one group, Tren de Aragua, and analysts say the Cartel de Los Soles does not exist as a concrete organization. The term has been used to refer to the involvement of many high-ranking military officers in the drug trade, though there is no evidence that Mr. Maduro directs the effort.Genevieve Glatsky and Annie Correal contributed reporting.Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello of Venezuela, considered one of Nicolás Maduro’s top enforcers, called for calm in televised remarks and urged Venezuelans to trust the leadership. “Let no one fall into despair. Let no one make things easier for the invading enemy,” he said. Cabello also said, without providing evidence, that bombs had struck civilian buildings.Nicolás Maduro was indicted in the United States on corruption, drug trafficking and other charges in 2020, and the State Department had announced a $50 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. In announcing the capture of Maduro, President Trump said it was done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. The indictment was sworn out in the Southern District of New York.Senator Mike Lee of Utah said on social media that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him in a phone call that Nicolás Maduro was “arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.” Lee said Rubio does not anticipate further action in Venezuela now that Maduro was in custody.Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago, who has expressed strong support for U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela, said on social media that her country was not involved in the U.S. military operations and maintains peaceful relations with Venezuela.In a phone interview, Trump celebrated the capture of Maduro.ImageTrump called the strike against Venezuela “a brilliant operation.”Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York TimesPresident Trump sounded tired. It was just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning and 10 minutes after he announced on social media that the United States had captured Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. I had called the president to try to better understand what happened and what comes next. He picked up after three rings and answered a few questions.Mr. Trump first celebrated the mission’s success. “A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” he told me. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”I then asked if he had sought congressional authority before the U.S. military, along with law enforcement personnel, engaged in a “large scale strike,” as he put in on social media. “We’ll discuss that,” he said. “We’re going to have a news conference.” In his social media announcement, Mr. Trump said he would speak at 11 a.m. from Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence where he has spent the past two weeks.I tried to ask what he envisions next for Venezuela and why the high-risk mission was worth it. “You’re going to hear all about it 11 o’clock,” he said before hanging up.The call had lasted 50 seconds. The U.S. attack has left an unspecified number of Venezuelans dead and injured, Venezuelan officials said in statements. The number of casualties is still being assessed, they said.Video obtained by the Reuters news agency and verified by The Times shows smoke billowing near La Carlota Airport in Caracas, Venezuela, as explosions ring out.VideoCreditCredit...Social media via ReutersPresident Javier Milei of Argentina celebrated the capture of Nicolás Maduro. “Liberty advances,” Milei wrote on social media.Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said on social media that his country’s forces were being deployed to the border with Venezuela, and that there would be additional support “in the event of a massive influx of refugees.”Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, speaking on a state-run television station, says the whereabouts of Nicolás Maduro and his wife are unknown, and asks President Trump for proof of life.ImageCredit...Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York TimesA U.S. official said there were no American casualties in the operation but would not comment on Venezuelan casualties. If President Trump’s claim is true, the Venezuelan constitution states that power would pass to Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who runs economic policy. But we are in uncharted territory and it is unclear who would end up in charge. The United States has not recognized Maduro as a legitimate president, and Venezuela’s opposition says the rightful president is the exiled politician Edmundo Gonzalez.In a brief phone interview with The Times, President Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture Maduro. “A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” Trump said. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”When asked if he had sought congressional authority for the operation or what is next for Venezuela, Trump said he would address those matters during his news conference at Mar-a-Lago in the morning.ImageCredit...Pete Marovich for The New York TimesPresident Trump says the United States carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela.” He said in his social media post that he will host a news conference in Mar-a-Lago at 11 a.m.President Trump announces on social media that the United States has captured Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, and his wife and that they are being flown out of the country.ImageCredit...Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York TimesVenezuela’s defense minister, Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez, in a national address, denounces what he called a U.S. attack. “This invasion represents the most blatant outrage suffered by the country,” he says. This is the first public appearance by a senior Venezuelan official since the start of the explosions. General Padrino Lopez is Venezuela’s top ranking officer and is seen as a crucial member of Maduro’s coalition.The U.S. has been building up forces off Venezuela for months.ImageThe M.V. Ocean Trader, a Special Operations ship, in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sept. 27.Credit...Planet LabsImageThe M.V. Ocean Trader was seen 85 miles northeast of Venezuela on Thursday.Credit...CopernicusBefore President Trump announced on Saturday that the United States had captured President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, the U.S. military had launched one of the largest deployments of its forces to the Caribbean region in decades.The United States Southern Command said that about 15,000 troops were in the region by December. President Trump described them as a “massive armada.” In August, he had secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against Latin American drug cartels that his administration had deemed terrorist organizations.Since the signing, the United States had carried out 35 lethal strikes on boats that the administration said were carrying narcotics. The attacks have killed more than 100 people. Legal and military experts questioned the legality of the strikes. Congress has not authorized them, nor has it declared war on Venezuela.Some Trump officials have said that the main goal of the increase in troops was to drive Mr. Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, from power. Hours before Mr. Trump announced the capture of Mr. Maduro and his wife, the Venezuelan government accused the U.S. military of carrying out attacks in the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country.In recent months, the U.S. military buildup has included transport and cargo planes. Flight-tracking data reviewed by The New York Times showed C-17 heavy-lift cargo planes — largely used for transporting military troops and equipment — conducted at least 16 flights to Puerto Rico from American military bases in one recent week. The C-17s flew to Puerto Rico from bases in New Mexico, Illinois, Vermont, Florida, Arizona, Utah, Washington State and Japan.The United States has also recently moved special-operations aircraft to the Caribbean.Since October, the U.S. forces have included a Navy expeditionary strike group consisting of amphibious warships carrying thousands of Marines, along with warplanes, attack helicopters and other aircraft.The buildup also brought the arrival in November of a full aircraft carrier strike group, with the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford and several destroyers loitering roughly 100 nautical miles off the shores of Venezuela.The Ford and its air wing, however, have not been used to attack vessels suspected of smuggling drugs. Those attacks have been launched by drones and AC-130 gunships controlled by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command.The U.S. Coast Guard has also begun chasing, boarding and even seizing oil tankers that the White House says are violating sanctions on Caracas.Christiaan Triebert, John Ismay and Helene Cooper contributed reporting.No senior Venezuelan government official or military officer has made a public appearance since the start of the explosions. The government broadcast an address on all television and radio frequencies, in which a state television journalist read out a statement condemning the attack.