Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was seeking renewed talks with the United States before he was captured overnight in a stunning raid by U.S. military and law enforcement elements. His capture followed months of tanker seizures a recent U.S. strike, and targeting of boats ferrying deadly narcotics out of the country.
According to Reuters, Maduro offered potential U.S. access to Venezuela’s oil reserves and proposed restarting dialogue on counter-narcotics cooperation. Speaking on state television recently, he suggested reopening the door to investment by Chevron and urged Trump to engage in discussions aimed at cooperating to combat drug trafficking.
Venezuela has been serving as a hub for drug-smuggling and dangerous cartels such as Tren de Aragua and the Maduro-tied Cartel de los Soles.
“To the people of the United States I say what I have always said, Venezuela is a brother country… a friendly government,” Maduro said during his address. “We must start to speak seriously, with the facts in hand. The U.S. government knows that, because we have said it a lot to their interlocutors, that if they want to speak seriously about the agreement to battle drug trafficking, we are ready to do that.”
“If they want Venezuela’s oil, Venezuela is ready to accept U.S. investments like those of Chevron, when, where and how they want to make them,” Maduro added. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but the industry has been hit hard during the reigns of Maduro and his socialist dictator predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
The Trump administration has seized several oil tankers linked to Venezuela and has also carried out strikes against vessels described by U.S. officials as drug-smuggling boats in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean near Venezuela.
Trump has referred to Maduro as an illegitimate ruler and has publicly had previously suggested the possibility of removing his government.
U.S. officials have said that since the Caribbean operations began in September, more than 100 individuals alleged to be involved in narcotics trafficking have been killed during enforcement actions.
The U.S. military carried out a “large-scale strike” in Venezuela early Saturday morning and took Maduro and his wife into custody, President Trump confirmed.
“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,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Multiple explosions were reported in Caracas, Venezuela, as at least seven blasts were heard, according to The Associated Press. Low-flying aircraft were observed over the city around 2 a.m. local time. The helicopters spotted in the area belonged to the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, commonly known as the “Night Stalkers.”
The Venezuelan government said in a statement that “the civilian and military localities of the city of Caracas, capital of the Republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira” were impacted by the attack.
The statement also accused the U.S. of committing a “very serious military aggression” against Venezuela and carrying out “imperialist aggression.”
“The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to break the Nation’s political independence by force,” the Government of Venezuela said in a statement. “They will not succeed. After more than two hundred years of independence, the people and their legitimate Government remain steadfast in defense of sovereignty and the inalienable right to decide their own destiny.”
The statement also said the “attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a ‘regime change,’ in alliance with the fascist oligarchy, will fail just like all previous attempts.”