{"id":46594,"date":"2026-01-03T18:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=46594"},"modified":"2026-01-03T18:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:41:18","slug":"trump-says-us-to-run-venezuela-after-toppling-maduro-in-military-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/01\/03\/trump-says-us-to-run-venezuela-after-toppling-maduro-in-military-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says US to &#8216;run&#8217; Venezuela after toppling Maduro in military attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife during a bombing raid in Caracas. <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States will \u201crun\u201d Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves after snatching leftist leader Nicolas Maduro out of the country during a bombing raid on Caracas.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s announcement came hours after a lightning attack in which special forces grabbed Maduro and his wife, while airstrikes pounded multiple sites, stunning the capital city.<\/p>\n<p>Trump did not go into detail what he meant but told a press conference in Florida: \u201cWe\u2019re going to be running it with a group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re designating people,\u201d he said, mentioning that cabinet officials standing with him would be in charge.<\/p>\n<p>In another surprise, Trump indicated that US troops could be deployed in Venezuela.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <strong>SA urges UN action after US captures Venezuela\u2019s president<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The US is \u201cnot afraid of boots on the ground,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Although the operation is being framed as a law-enforcement action, Trump made clear that regime change and Venezuela\u2019s oil riches are the major goals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll be selling large amounts of oil,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The 79-year-old Republican posted a picture of Maduro in custody on a US naval ship wearing a blindfold, handcuffs and what looked like noise-canceling ear muffs. He and his wife were being taken to New York to face narcotics and terrorism charges.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <strong>Russia calls for urgent clarity about Maduro\u2019s reported capture, as Venezuela appeals to UN<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-trump-dismisses-opposition-leader\">Trump dismisses opposition leader<\/h2>\n<p>US-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, posted on social media: \u201cthe hour of freedom has arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She called for the opposition\u2019s candidate in the 2024 election, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to \u201cimmediately\u201d assume the presidency.<\/p>\n<p>But Trump scotched any expectation that Machado should emerge as Venezuela\u2019s new leader. She doesn\u2019t have \u201csupport or respect\u201d there, he said.<\/p>\n<p>He indicated he could instead work with Maduro\u2019s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, saying \u201cshe\u2019s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump also made clear that the US presence is unlikely to be short.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <strong>President Maduro faces drug, terrorism charges after being \u2018captured and flown out\u2019 of Venezuela<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re there now, but we\u2019re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The United Nations chief said he was \u201cdeeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>China, a backer of Maduro\u2019s hard-left regime, said it \u201cstrongly condemns\u201d the US attack, while France warned that a solution for troubled Venezuela cannot \u201cbe imposed from outside.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-black-out-and-bombing\">Black-out and bombing<\/h3>\n<p>Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, spent months massing off the coast.<\/p>\n<p>Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters\u00a0around 2:00 am (0600 GMT). Airstrikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour, AFP journalists said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <strong>OPINION | Marco Rubio: Tail wagging the dog<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The bombing turned out to be only part of the more ambitious plan to topple Maduro and bring him to US soil to face narco-trafficking charges.<\/p>\n<p>Trump said the assault began with a partial blackout caused by US \u201cexpertise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft took part in the operation, supporting troops helicoptering in to seize Machado with the help of months of intelligence into the leader\u2019s daily habits \u2014 down to \u201cwhat he ate\u201d and what pets he kept.<\/p>\n<p>Maduro, 63, and his wife \u201cgave up\u201d without a struggle and there was \u201cno loss of US life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of La Guaira, near the heavily bombed main airport, told AFP that the blasts \u201clifted me out of bed, and I immediately thought, \u2018God, the day has come.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <strong>Trump peddles some more lies<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and a smell of smoke drifting through the streets.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-shifting-justifications\">Shifting justifications<\/h3>\n<p>The US and numerous European governments already did not recognize Maduro\u2019s legitimacy, saying he stole elections both in 2018 and 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Maduro \u2014 in power since 2013 after taking over from leftist mentor Hugo Chavez \u2014 long accused Trump of seeking regime change in order to control Venezuela\u2019s huge oil reserves.<\/p>\n<p>Trump said the extraordinary snatching of a foreign country\u2019s leader was justified because of his claim that Venezuela is responsible for mass death from drugs in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>But Trump has given a variety of justifications for the aggressive policy toward Venezuela, at times stressing illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and the country\u2019s oil industry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <strong>Russia warns Trump against \u2018fatal mistake\u2019 in Venezuela standoff<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He had previously avoided openly calling for regime change \u2014 likely mindful of his nationalist political base\u2019s dislike for foreign entanglements.<\/p>\n<p>Several members of Congress quickly questioned the legality of the operation. However, Trump\u2019s key ally Mike Johnson, Republican speaker in the House of Representatives, said it was \u201cdecisive and justified.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Trump #run #Venezuela #toppling #Maduro #military #attack<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife during a bombing raid in Caracas. President Donald Trump said&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46594"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46596,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46594\/revisions\/46596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}