What we learned – summary
It has been a huge day of news and developments after the dramatic US attack on Caracas and the capture of Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife. We’ll be starting a new blog soon to bring you the latest news. Here’s everything you need to know about what happened today.
Maduro is now being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to US media reports. A plane believed to have been carrying Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, landed in New York on Saturday evening.
The White House’s official rapid response account on X posted a video earlier which appeared to show Maduro handcuffed and escorted by agents at the US Drug Enforcement Administration offices. In the video, Maduro, who is wearing a black hooded top and hat, walks down a hallway with a carpet that says “DEA NYD”. He can be heard saying “Goodnight” and “Happy new year”.
Donald Trump said “We’re going to run the country [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition” during a press conference about the attack on Venezuela. He has not given further details.
The US is going to be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry after the military operation, Trump said. “We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it.”
Trump said his administration had not spoken to Venezuela’s exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado. He said he did not think she would be able to return to lead Venezuela, saying: “She does not have the support in Venezuela. She is a very nice woman but she does not have the support.”
Venezuela’s supreme court has ordered vice-president Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of acting president in Maduro’s absence.
Asked about Trump’s comment that the US will “run” Venezuela temporarily, US defense secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS News: “President Trump sets the terms … But it means the drugs stop flowing. It means the oil that was taken from us is returned, ultimately, and that criminals are not sent to the United States.”
The UN security council was due to hold an emergency meeting on Monday.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, is deeply alarmed by the US military action in Venezuela, his spokesperson has said, and considered the US intervention “a dangerous precedent”.
The New York Times reported that at least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in Saturday’s attack. The estimate came from a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on the condition of anonymity
This blog is now closing, you can follow our continued live coverage here.
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Florida's Venezuelan community celebrates Maduro's capture
Hundreds of people from the Venezuelan community in Doral, South Florida gathered on Saturday to celebrate the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US troops, waving the Venezuelan flag and chanting “liberty”.
Associated Press spoke to those who turned out, including some who hope they will be able to return home and reunite with their families.
David Nuñez told AP he fled to the US six years ago after being persecuted in Venezuela for his political activism. He has not seen his daughters — ages 8 and 17 — since then.
“The most important thing is that we’re going to be able to be with our families soon,” Nuñez said. “At least for me, I haven’t seen my daughters in six years so I have a lot of mixed feelings. I’ve cried a lot. I’m really happy because I know that I’m going to be able to return to Venezuela very soon.”
Roughly half the population of Doral is of Venezuelan descent, and people began to gather as soon as news broke.
“We’re like everybody — it’s a combination of feelings, of course,” Alejandra Arrieta, who came to the US in 1997, told AP. “There’s fears. There’s excitement. There’s so many years that we’ve been waiting for this. Something had to happen in Venezuela. We all need the freedom.”
Trump said earlier on Saturday that the US will “run” Venezuela until there can be “a safe, proper and judicious transition”, but did not give further details.
About 8 million people have fled Venezuela since 2014, with the majority hosted in Latin American and Caribbean countries, though many have also made treacherous journeys to the US.
In South Florida, deep-seated concerns among the Venezuelan community about Trump’s immigration crackdowns gave way to celebrations after Maduro was deposed, AP reported.
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