President Donald Trump said Saturday that US forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a “large scale strike” on the South American country. There was no confirmation from Venezuela’s government of the fate of the leftist Maduro, in power since 2013. His government accused the United States of an “extremely serious military aggression” which follows a months-long campaign of increasing military and economic pressure by Trump. The defense ministry accused the United States of targeting residential areas and announced a “massive deployment” of its military resources. He also said the United States had hit and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats.

Source: Punch January 03, 2026 14:27 UTC