In the early hours of 3 January 2026, US forces captured disputed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were transferred to the US, where Maduro now deposed, faces charges of narco-terrorism.
The United States carried out a lightning military strike on Venezuela early Saturday, capturing President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and spiriting them out of the country. American officials say the pair will face narco-terrorism charges in U.S. courts. The overnight operation left Venezuela reeling, with its leadership uncertain and details of casualties and the impact on its military still to emerge. Countries across the region and the wider world were absorbing the destabilizing implications of the apparently unilateral U.S. action.
President Donald Trump had long threatened that he could order military strikes on targets on Venezuelan territory after months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs from the South American country. President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela said the U.S. military operations were a thinly veiled effort to oust him from power. On Saturday, the U.S. conducted a large-scale strike against Venezuela.
United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has formally announced the launch of a US military operation to target so-called narco-terrorists as Washington's large-scale build-up of troops, warships and fighter jets continues in Latin America. Today, I'm announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR. Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and @SOUTHCOM, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people, Hegseth said in a post on X.
But almost 20 years ago, just a few blocks from the town square where the mayor was gunned down at point-blank range, another event occurred that marked the country's recent memory. In the early morning of September 6, 2006, about 20 hooded men with assault rifles, dressed in police uniforms, stormed into a nightclub, firing shots. Before leaving, they took five human heads out of a bag and left them on the dance floor.
