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(2nd LD) US strike-Venezuela
(2nd LD) Trump says U.S. captured Venezuela's Maduro in military strike
(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; ADDS more info in )
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States has captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife in a large-scale military strike, capping his administration's monthslong pressure campaign against the Maduro regime.
In a social media post, Trump made the announcement on the operation against Maduro, whom his administration has accused of drug trafficking. Maduro faces criminal charges in the U.S. of narco-terrorism conspiracy and drug importation conspiracy, among others, according to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Venezuelan government has declared a state of emergency, denouncing what it called an "imperialist attack," according to reports. Its Vice President Delcy Rodriguez called for "proof of life" from the U.S., noting that Maduro's location remains unknown.
"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," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement," he added.
Trump plans to hold a news conference on the matter at 11 a.m. (local time), he said.
In a phone interview with The New York Times, Trump touted the military strike as a "brilliant operation."
"A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people," he was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
The U.S. attorney general said that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York.
"Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States," she wrote on X.
"They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts."
Commenting on the capture of Maduro, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said that the "tyrant is gone."
"A new dawn for Venezuela!" Landau wrote on X. "He will now -- finally -- face justice for his crimes."
Some critics in Washington voiced concerns over the military strike, pointing out that it proceeded without a due legal approval process.
"Trump rejected our Constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the Administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war," Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) wrote on X.
Kim also noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegsesth said to senators recently that what the Trump administration had been doing was not about "regime change" in Venezuela.
"I didn't trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress," he said.
In the lead-up to the military strike, the Trump administration had been ratcheting up pressure against the Maduro government for months through various measures, such as the mobilization of military assets in the Caribbean, airstrikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats and the seizure of oil tankers off Venezuela.
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