Here is what we know about US attacks on Venezuela.

US President Donald Trump has said that the US has captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after a massive attack on the South American country Venezuela.

Trump announced that a military operation in coordination with US law enforcement took out Venezuela’s leftist president and his wife. He has been charged with drug and weapons crimes in New York.

His capture has come to light after reports of explosions, including at military bases in the capital Caracas, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The Venezuelan government deployed its armed forces and declared a national emergency.

Maduro’s arrest comes after heightened tensions between the two countries, with Washington attacking boats in the Caribbean it says were being used to transport drugs.

America has accused the Venezuelan President Maduro of being personally involved in drug trafficking and being an illegitimate leader, while Maduro has accused the United States of bullying and wanting to seize his oil.

Trump said during a news conference on Saturday that the US would steer Venezuela “to a safe, just and sensible transition”, adding that US oil companies would also come to the country.

Here’s what we know so far.

Delta Force, the US military’s top counter-terrorism unit, captured Maduro, according to the BBC’s US news partner CBS News.

CBS said a CIA source inside the Venezuelan government helped the US track Maduro’s location – part of a broader intelligence network.

Speaking with Trump on Saturday, Gen. Dan Kaine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Operation Absolute Resolve took months of planning and rehearsals, with forces waiting for the right weather.

More than 150 planes were used to bring an extraction team to the capital.

At 02:01 local time (06:01 GMT), the team arrived and entered Maduro’s compound, which Trump described as “a house that was like a fortress”. The Americans turned off the lights in Caracas.

The US president said Maduro tried to break into the steel-framed safe, reaching the door but unable to close it.

No American soldiers were killed and there were “few” injuries in the operation, he said, adding that he witnessed it live.

After this, Maduro and his wife were put on a ship for New York.

At the same time as the operation, loud explosions were heard in Caracas, while plumes of smoke were seen rising over the city.

Videos of explosions and helicopters flying overhead are circulating on social media but have not been confirmed yet.

The number of casualties remains unknown.

The Venezuelan government also said that the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira were also affected.

Trump stated that US forces were ready for a second wave, but deemed the first wave “too powerful” to warrant such preparations.

BBC Verify is combing through multiple videos showing explosions, fires and smoke in locations around Caracas to determine which sites were targeted.

It has confirmed five locations so far:

• Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base, an airfield known as La Carlota
• Fuerte Tiuna, a major military facility in Caracas
• Port La Guaira, Caracas’ main thoroughfare to the Caribbean Sea, is located in the state of Miranda
• Higuerote Airport, also located in Miranda state, just east of Caracas.
• Antenas el Volcán is a telecommunications tower on Cerro el Volcán, a high peak in the state of Miranda.

Vice President Delcy Rodríguez appealed for peace and unity on state television, called for the release of Maduro, whom she called the “only president,” and said Venezuela would never be colonised by any country.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump announced that Rodriguez had taken the oath of office as president and had communicated with the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and told him, “We’ll do whatever you need,” Trump said. “He really has no choice,” Trump said.

The country’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez had earlier claimed that the attacks targeted civilian areas and said the government was compiling information on the dead and injured.

He said Venezuela would “resist” the presence of foreign troops.

The Venezuelan government issued an official statement condemning the “extremely serious military aggression” by the US “against Venezuelan territory and the population in civilian and military spaces.”

It also accused the US of endangering international peace and stability and described the attack as an attempt to seize “Venezuela’s strategic resources, especially its oil and minerals” in an attempt to “forcibly break the country’s political independence.”.

During Saturday’s press conference, Trump said the US will “run the country until we have a safe, just, and prudent transition.”

Asked by reporters about Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado, Trump said she had no support or respect for her.

Earlier on social media, Machado said, “The time for independence has come,” and called for Edmundo González Urrutia, who is in power, according to released vote data. Her party wins the 2024 elections to assume power.

Trump also said that American oil companies would step in to fix the infrastructure and “start making money for the country”.

“We’re going to take huge amounts of money off the ground” that will go to people in Venezuela and the U.S., he said, adding, “We’ll get reimbursed for everything we’ve spent.”

He also said that America will sell oil to other countries.

Asked whether US troops would be deployed to Venezuela, Trump said, “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were convicted in the Southern District of New York.

He has been charged with narco-terrorism and importing cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to commit machine gun and destructive device crimes against the United States.

“He will soon have to face the full wrath of American justice in American courts on American soil,” Bondy wrote on X.

Nicolás Maduro rose to prominence under the leadership of leftist President Hugo Chávez and his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). He succeeded Chávez as president in 2013.

Maduro was in 2024 Winner of presidential election declared Even though polling data collected by the opposition shows that its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, won by a landslide.

There have been differences between Maduro and Trump regarding the arrival of thousands of Venezuelan immigrants to the US and the movement of drugs, particularly fentanyl and cocaine, into the US.

Trump has designated two Venezuelan drug gangs – Tren de Aragua and Cartel de los Sols – as foreign terrorist organisations (FTOs) and alleged that they were led by Maduro himself.

The US had offered a reward of $50 million (37 million pounds) for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.

Maduro has vehemently denied being a cartel leader and accused the US of using the “war on drugs” as a pretext to remove him from office and trying to take over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

In recent months, American forces have also carried out more than two dozen strikes; It is alleged that boats in international waters have been used to smuggle drugs into the US. More than 100 people have died.

First Lady Cilia Flores – who was also extradited to the US and convicted along with her husband – has held several senior positions in Venezuela, including Attorney General and Speaker of the National Assembly. He is seen as a powerful political operator in his own right.

Flores, 59, is colloquially known as Maduro’s Primera Combatiente (First Warrior) and has often been photographed with him during public events.

Like her husband, she was living under US sanctions – imposed during Trump’s first presidency over allegations that she was involved in Maduro’s corrupt activities. At that time, Maduro hit back by saying, “You don’t mess with Cilia. You don’t mess with the family.”

Flores is a lawyer by training and once fought for the release from prison of Hugo Chávez, who tried to take over the Venezuelan government in 1992 and later became the country’s president. His career was forever linked to Chávez’s movement.

Flores’ tenure as head of the National Assembly was not without controversy, including his decision to restrict press access to the parliamentary chamber and allegations of nepotism.

The Americans have previously targeted Flores’ relatives on similar drug trafficking charges. In 2015, the US convicted and jailed two of his nephews after arresting them in Haiti on drug charges. He was later released as part of the 2022 prisoner swap.

Initial news of the attacks drew a strong reaction from Venezuela’s long-time allies.

Russia accused the US of committing an “act of armed aggression” that was “deeply worrying and condemnable”.

China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was “deeply shocked and strongly condemned” by the use of force against a sovereign country and its president.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry described the attacks as a “gross violation of the country’s national sovereignty”.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro called the attacks an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America, while Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel described them as a “criminal attack.”

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on Twitter that the bombings and Maduro’s capture “cross an unacceptable line”, adding that “attacking countries in gross violation of international law is the first step towards a world of violence, anarchy and instability”.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric expressed “concern and condemnation” over the attacks and called for a “peaceful solution to the serious crisis affecting the country.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s ally in Argentina, Javier Milei, wrote, ‘Freedom moves forward’ and ‘Long live freedom’ on social media.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” by the attacks, his spokesman said in a statement, saying it sets a “dangerous precedent”.

His spokesman said, “The UN chief is deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected” and calls on all parties in Venezuela to engage in inclusive dialogue with full respect for human rights and the rule of law.

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, reiterated the bloc’s position that Maduro lacks legitimacy and there should be a peaceful transition of power but said the principles of international law must be respected.

The office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the government believes “external military action is not the way to end totalitarian regimes” but added that it considers “defensive intervention” against hybrid attacks “legitimate, as is the case with state entities that promote drug trafficking”.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to “establish the facts” and talk to Trump first about the “rapidly changing situation”.