The United States launched a sudden military intervention in Venezuela in the early hours of Saturday, with President Donald Trump announcing that Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife had been captured and flown out of the country. The operation, confirmed by US officials, marks the most dramatic escalation in US Latin America policy in decades and has triggered international alarm.

Explosions were heard and plumes of smoke were seen rising over Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, in the early hours of Saturday, following what the government described as a major military attack by the United States. Videos recorded by residents showed columns of smoke, loud detonations and aircraft flying at low altitude over the city. The explosions began shortly after 2am local time, with blasts reported near the La Carlota air base in eastern Caracas and in surrounding areas. A fire was later seen at Fort Tiuna, the country’s largest military complex.

Shortly after the strikes, US President Donald Trump confirmed that the United States had carried out attacks on Venezuelan territory and claimed that President Nicolás Maduro and his wife had been captured and flown out of the country. Trump did not provide details on how the operation was conducted or where Maduro was taken. The Venezuelan government has not confirmed Maduro’s capture and has demanded proof of life. Before Trump’s announcement, Caracas had already denounced the strikes as a “grave military aggression” by the United States:

“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, repudiates and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression carried out by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population,” the government said in a statement, citing attacks on civilian and military locations in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.

Trump defended the operation in remarks to reporters, framing it as a decisive action against what he described as a criminal regime. He reiterated long standing accusations that Venezuela operates as a narco state and claimed the intervention would restore order. Previously, however, the president openly cited oil as a strategic concern in the region, announcing  “A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela”

That admission has undercut arguments that the operation was motivated by democracy or human rights. While Maduro governs through repression and electoral manipulation, authoritarianism alone has never been a sufficient condition for US military intervention. The move also exposes a sharp contradiction with Trump’s political messaging. He campaigned repeatedly on a promise of no more wars and positioned himself as a break from interventionist foreign policy. The Venezuela operation suggests that this stance was conditional rather than principled, abandoned when military force aligned with perceived strategic or economic gain.

The parallels with Iraq and Afghanistan are difficult to ignore. Moralised language, shifting justifications, and promises of swift resolution echo earlier interventions whose long term consequences led to prolonged instability and violence in the regions affected. As events continue to unfold, the intervention in Venezuela already marks the most dramatic escalation in US Latin America policy in decades.