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This article has been updated to include new statements from Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump announced early January 3 that the U.S. has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after a series of late night airstrikes on Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, carried out by the U.S. military.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump boasted that the U.S. has “successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela” and said that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been “captured and flown out of the country.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Maduro has been charged with “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy,” among other charges, in the Southern District of New York. She posted a copy of the indictment on social media.

On Saturday morning, in his first speech after the invasion, Trump said, “We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.” He offered few details and no timeline regarding the American occupation of the country, but later said he was “not afraid of boots on the ground.” When asked by reporters about the potential cost of occupying Venezuela for an undefined period of time, Trump said, “It won’t cost us anything because the money coming out of the ground is very substantial.”

Throughout his comments, Trump repeatedly referenced Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and said that U.S. oil interests would be heavily involved in the country’s future. “We’re 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, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”

Trump’s comments were a sharp turn from the administration’s reasoning for its months-long boat strike campaign that has killed over 100 civilians. Comparatively, he also spoke very little about the indictment, despite administration officials touting its charges against Maduro as the reasoning for Saturday morning’s operation.

The reported kidnapping comes after the U.S. carried out late night airstrikes across Caracas, striking fear among the residents of the densely populated city. Reports say the strikes lasted about 30 minutes, and it’s unclear whether there were casualties.

In a speech aired on state television, Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the government has demanded proof of life from the U.S. Venezuelan officials have said........

© Truthout