Caracas: Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said on Saturday that the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, remain unknown following US attacks reported across several regions of the country earlier in the day.
According to Rodríguez, the situation unfolded after US strikes were carried out in areas including Caracas, Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira during the early hours, local time. Speaking to state broadcaster Venezolana de Televisión in a telephone interview, she demanded proof of life for Maduro and Flores from the United States.
Venezuela’s leading daily El Nacional reported that Rodríguez also urged citizens to mobilise in what she described as a “civic-military fusion” to defend the country. Citing sources referenced by Fox News, the newspaper said the overnight US operation involved a large deployment of Chinook helicopters along with other special forces assets.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump claimed that Maduro and his wife had been “captured” and taken out of Venezuela. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the United States had conducted a “large-scale strike” and alleged that the Venezuelan leader and his wife had been flown out of the country.
Trump added that the operation was carried out in coordination with US law enforcement agencies, and said further details would be shared during a news conference scheduled at Mar-a-Lago. Meanwhile, residents reported hearing several loud explosions in Caracas early on Saturday.
US media outlets claimed that Maduro was detained by an elite unit of the US Army’s Delta Force. El Nacional further reported that sources within the US administration said Trump had authorised the military action days earlier, following months of increased American military presence near the Venezuelan coast and repeated calls from Washington for Maduro to step down.
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