Now, with Maduro's capture, China, Iran and Russia find themselves in the middle of a geopolitical pickle and the Venezuelans who languished under a communist narco-dictator have a taste of freedom:
President Donald Trump said Saturday that U.S. forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a “large scale strike” on the South American country.
Trump’s stunning announcement follows months of steadily mounting U.S. military and economic pressure on leftist leader Maduro and his country’s oil-export-dependent economy.
“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 said on Truth Social.
“This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.”
Trump added that he would give a news conference at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he is nearing the end of a two-week Christmas and New Year’s vacation.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, Trump hailed the “brilliant” operation. “A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” the paper quoted Trump as saying.
The US army’s elite Delta Force unit carried out the operation to seize Maduro, CBS News reported. U.S. officials did not immediately confirm the report.
The US military action was now complete, with Maduro having been arrested to “stand trial” in the United States, a U.S. senator quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying.
“He anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody,” Senator Mike Lee, a Republican initially critical of the operation, wrote on X after what he said was a telephone call with Rubio.
The Trump administration in August offered a $50 million reward for information leading to the capture of Maduro, whom it accuses of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns” drug trafficking organization.
Canadian overlords are typically apoplectic and displeased.
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