The United States has carried out a military strike in Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro, who has been taken out of the country, President Donald Trump said on Saturday.
The operation would mark the first direct U.S. intervention in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama that removed military ruler Manuel Noriega.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
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There was no immediate response or confirmation from the Venezuelan government.
Washington has previously accused Maduro of running a “narco-state” and manipulating elections. Maduro, who took office in 2013 after the death of Hugo Chavez, has repeatedly said the United States is seeking control of Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world.