The US has captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and launched “large-scale” strikes against the country, Donald Trump says
He says Maduro has been flown out of the country, though details remain scarce – read Trump’s statement in full
Venezuela’s government demands “immediate proof of life” for Maduro and his wife
Earlier, Venezuela announced a state of national emergency and said it rejects and denounces “military aggression”
“My heart was pumping and legs were shaking,” an eyewitness in Caracas tells the BBC as explosions rocked the city
Footage shows huge plumes of smoke as fires rage
It follows weeks of heightened tension as Trump ramped up pressure on Maduro.
If, as claimed, the US has sent Delta Force into the heart of the Venezuelan capital and extracted the sitting president, along with his wife, it is unlike anything we have seen before.
The closest comparison would be the capture of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, also by special forces, in 1989.
Both men had recently claimed victory in disputed elections, both had been accused by the US of involvement in drug trafficking and both had been preceded by significant US military build-up.
But Noriega’s capture followed a short, decisive, war between the two countries, in which Panamanian forces were quickly overwhelmed.
He had taken refuge in the Vatican embassy, where he remained for 11 days.
Eventually Noriega was persuaded to leave after the use of “psychological warfare” – specifically the constant playing of loud rock music, including The Clash, Van Halen and U2.
He was taken back to the US, where he was convicted of drugs offences.
Details of the operation to capture Nicholas Maduro are yet to emerge, but it seems to have been an operation even more ambitious in its scope – succeeding in extracting the President and his wife without the use of conventional ground forces.
His fate is unclear, but one would imagine it will end in a US prison.
