Trump Claims US Has ‘Captured’ Venezuelan President, Wife
President Donald Trump announced that the United States has captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a “large-scale” operation against the country.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social on Saturday, added that President Maduro has been flown out of the country.
He said: “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.
“This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow.
“There will be a News Conference today at 11 A.M., at Mar-a-Lago.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter!
“President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
Earlier in the day, Venezuela had announced a state of national emergency following the strike on Caracas.
The attack on Venezuela followed weeks of heightened tension as Trump ramped up pressure on Maduro over alleged large-scale drug trafficking in the country.
The Venezuelan president had earlier in the week said he was open to talks on the drug trafficking allegation and oil in an interview this week.
He said he was ready for the talks with the US “wherever and whenever they want”.
In the interview with Venezuelan state TV, Maduro avoided responding to a statement by Trump that the US had hit a docking facility in Venezuela, marking the first such attack inside the country, reportedly carried out by the CIA.
A few days before Maduro’s interview, Trump said the US carried out a strike on a “dock area” linked to alleged Venezuelan drug boats, adding there had been a “major explosion” where “they load the boats up with drugs”.
Trump accused Maduro of “emptying his prisons and insane asylums” and “forcing” his inmates to migrate to the US and using oil money to fund drug-related crime.
Since September, the US has launched 30 strikes on what it says are drug-smuggling boats, targeting vessels in the Pacific and the Caribbean.
More than 110 people have been killed since the US carried out its first attack on a boat in international waters on September 2.
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