No U.S. casualties were reported in the operation ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump to attack Venezuela and capture Nicolás Maduro, The New York Times reported Saturday.
“A U.S. official said there were no U.S. casualties in the operation, but declined to comment on Venezuelan casualties,” the newspaper noted.
Operation against Maduro without cassualties
Trump confirmed Saturday that the United States has carried out “a successful large-scale attack on Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, Cilia Flores, captured and airlifted out of the country.”
“The operation was conducted in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement,” Trump said in a message on the social network Truth Social in which he indicated that he will give more information at a press conference at 11 a.m. (16:00 GMT) from Mar-a-Lago (Florida).
Trump confirmed the attack just hours after explosions and military aircraft overflights were reported in Caracas and other areas of the country.
According to sources consulted by Fox News, the U.S. nighttime military operation involved a large deployment of “Chinook” helicopters and other special forces assets to capture Maduro, who was reportedly flown out of the country in one of these aircraft.
According to sources consulted by CBS News, Maduro was captured by a unit of the U.S. Army’s elite Delta Force special forces.
Administration sources indicated that Trump gave the green light for the military strikes a few days ago, following several months of increased U.S. military presence off the Venezuelan coast and calls from the White House for Maduro to leave power.
In a brief interview with The New York Times from Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where the president has been spending Christmas vacation, Trump said it was “a brilliant operation.”
“There has been a lot of planning and a lot of very good people and military” involved in an operation that has allegedly deposed Maduro and removed him and his wife from the country.
Trump also said that at the press conference scheduled for this morning he will give an account of whether he reported the attacks to Congress, which has the power to declare war.
Filed under: Operation against Maduro
With information of EFE
