Maduro’s Last Day as Venezuela President: Trump Strikes After Meeting With Powerful Putin Ally China

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken overnight from their home on a military base and placed aboard a US warship bound for New York, where they are expected to face federal charges linked to a “narco-terrorism” conspiracy.  The operation followed a “large-scale strike” on Venezuelan territory, with explosions reported in Caracas and other locations. Maduro’s government condemned the action as an “imperialist attack” and an “extremely serious military aggression”, declaring a state of emergency and urging citizens to take to the streets.  Speaking on Saturday on “Fox and Friends Weekend”, Trump said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized at the presidential palace and flown by helicopter to a US warship.  Trump said Maduro had been “highly guarded” inside a palace “like a fortress”, equipped with a secure room reinforced with steel.

As this is a continuing saga, please tune back later to this story as we will provide updates all day long. Thank you. Telly, News Director at https://NewsroomPanama.com

Trump previously confirmed the order of “large-scale strikes” in Venezuela and the capture of Maduro and Flores in a statement on Truth Social earlier on Jan. 3.  Officials told CBS News and the BBC that Trump ordered airstrikes on various sites in Venezuela. Among the locations struck were the main military base, Fuerte Tiuna, and the main airbase, La Carlota, as well as El Volcán, a signal antenna site, and La Guaira Port, a seaport on the coast of the Caribbean, David Smolansky, a spokesman for Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, told CBS News. 

Trump said that while the attacks unfolded, Maduro reached a safe room but was unable to close the door before getting seized by U.S. special forces.  “But he was trying to get to a safe place, which wasn’t safe, because we would have had the door blown up in about 47 seconds,” the president said during a press conference.  “It was a very thick door, a very heavy door… he made it to the door, he was unable to close it,” Trump said. The U.S. president added that even if the door had been shut in time, Maduro wouldn’t have been safe “because we would have had the door blown up in about 47 seconds.”

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that it would be “very difficult” for Venezuela’s main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, to preside over the South American nation after Washington’s capture of President Nicolás Maduro, considering that she “has no support or respect within the country.”

This is María Corina Machado’s Message after Maduro’s Capture: ‘The Time For Freedom has Arrived’

“Venezuelans, the TIME FOR FREEDOM HAS ARRIVED!”— María Corina Machado – Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

In the statement, she argues that popular and national sovereignty must prevail, and announces a series of actions aimed at the institutional reconstruction of the country.  “What had to happen, is happening,” said opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, who released a statement to Venezuelans on Saturday, January 3, at 10:26 am (Panama time) , in which she affirmed that Nicolás Maduro will face international justice and assured that the time has come to achieve a democratic transition in the country. 

In the text, Machado emphasized that the situation marks a turning point after decades of political and social confrontation, and attributes the current moment to the United States’ intervention in response to the president’s refusal to accept a negotiated solution. “Nicolás Maduro, from today forward, faces international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations,” reads the opening line of the statement released on her X account.

‘The Time for Freedom has Arrived’

Machado sent a direct message to the citizens, assuring them that the country is entering a new stage, with a process towards an orderly democratic transition.

“The time has come for Popular Sovereignty and National Sovereignty to govern our country. We will restore order, free political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home.”

Photos of Trump at Mar-a-Lago Overseeing the Operation to Capture Maduro

US President Donald Trump posted images on Saturday of himself and his team in a sort of improvised Situation Room at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, during the lightning operation in which US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas.  Trump released these new photos on his Truth Social network, after posting a snapshot of Maduro handcuffed and with his eyes and ears covered aboard a US military vessel, which will transport the Venezuelan and his wife, Cilia Flores, to New York to be tried on charges of narco-terrorism. 

The group of 17 images, in color and black and white, show the US president, the secretaries of State, Marco Rubio, of War, Pete Hegseth, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, in a room with walls and windows covered with black curtains for privacy.  In several of the photos, you can see how the high-ranking officials, with serious expressions, monitor the operation, and in one of them, a screen with the social network X in the background can be seen.  Trump told Fox News that he followed the action as if he were watching a “TV show” and said that “it was something incredible.”

Delcy Rodríguez is in Caracas and in Charge of the Venezuelan Government

Delcy Rodríguez is in the city of Caracas and not in Russia as international media reported since the morning of January 3.  Rodríguez, who very early Saturday morning demanded proof of life from Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were “captured” in the early hours by Special Forces, is in charge of the transitional government in Venezuela.  According to President Donald Trump, Rodriguez spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and agreed to cooperate with U.S. authorities. 

The first to clarify Rodríguez’s whereabouts was The New York Times, which confirmed that she was in the city of Caracas.  Later, she gave a statement on Channel 8 in Venezuela and said that she had already been sworn in as acting president.  Furthermore, Rodríguez contradicted Rubio and Trump’s version and attacked the United States for its attacks in Venezuela.  “We are ready to defend Venezuela,” Rodríguez said in her speech after being sworn in.  Furthermore, she said that Maduro is the “only president of Venezuela” and demanded his release from the United States.

Panama Does Not Recognize Delcy Rodríguez as Maduro’s Successor

President José Raúl Mulino announced this Saturday that Panama will not recognize Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez in a transition in Venezuela following the US bombing aimed at capturing Nicolás Maduro.  The president stated that Panama will always stand in solidarity with peace and that it supports an orderly and legitimate process in Venezuela.  “I feel that the transition should be a democratic one towards full freedom in Venezuela,” the president stated in an interview.

Delcy Rodríguez Demands the ‘Immediate Release’ of Nicolás Maduro and his Wife

Venezuela’s Executive Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, asserted on Saturday that the only president of the South American country is Nicolás Maduro, after he was captured by US military forces following an attack carried out early this morning in Caracas and other areas of the oil-rich nation.  “We demand the immediate release of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, the only president of Venezuela,” Rodríguez reiterated in a speech broadcast on mandatory radio and television. 

The official led a defense council meeting, which included the head of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Caryslia Rodríguez, the Minister of the Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello, the Minister of Science, Gabriela Jiménez, as well as the strategic operational commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), Domingo Hernández Lárez. 

Rodríguez said that the United States’ response to Maduro’s call for dialogue a few days ago in a special interview has been aggression that “flagrantly violates” the Charter of the United Nations.  “We call on the Venezuelan people to remain calm so that together, in perfect national unity, this police, military, and popular fusion can become a single body, and we can emerge in this wonderful stage of defending our sovereignty and our national independence,” he added.  Rodríguez maintained that the Government is ready to defend Venezuela, to defend its natural resources, which, he stressed, “must be for national development.” 

US President Donald Trump clarified this Saturday that after Maduro’s capture, his administration “will govern” the country and that the leaders of a transition process will be his security team present at his press conference, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, he assured, has already spoken with the Venezuelan vice president to begin the political process.  In addition, the US president said that his country’s oil companies will invest “billions of dollars” to repair the infrastructure of that sector in Venezuela, which he considered to be “in very bad condition”.