How Maduro's kidnapping and the US onslaught on Venezuela transpired

The world was shocked when the United States bombed Venezuela and overthrew President Nicolas Maduro in the face of both praise and censure.

President Donald Trump hailed the capture of Maduro as one of the “most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history” during a press conference on Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Since the US Navy's SEAL team killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, in a safe house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011, this was the riskiest and most prominent military action approved by Washington.

The world's news cycle was dominated by reports of Maduro, 63, being kidnapped.

The Trump administration increased pressure on Caracas with a military build-up in the Caribbean and a series of lethal missile attacks on alleged drug-running boats that had killed over 100 people and whose legality has been seriously questioned by the UN and legal experts, following months of escalation and threats over Maduro's alleged involvement in shipping drugs to the US.

Additionally, the US has earlier offered a $50 million reward for information that led to Maduro's capture.

However, US intelligence had been learning about Maduro's eating habits while the military was conducting operations in the Caribbean, and special forces were secretly practicing a plot to overthrow him.

This is what we know about the "capture" of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

How did Maduro get kidnapped?

General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated during Trump's press conference that the operation, dubbed "Absolute Resolve," was meticulously practiced for months.

Additionally, Trump informed Fox News that US soldiers had rehearsed their abduction of Maduro on a model structure. Trump remarked, "They actually built a house that was exactly like the one they went into with all that steel all over the place."

Trump offered his approval at 11:46 p.m. local time on Friday (03:46 GMT on Saturday). "The weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only the most skilled aviators in the world could move through" on Friday night, according to Caine. Approximately 150 aircraft participated in the operation, taking off from 20 different airbases throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Trump stated, without providing further details, that the "lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have" as part of the operation that rendered Venezuela's air defence systems inoperable.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described the several loud explosions that shook the capital as part of a "massive joint military and law enforcement raid" that took place in less than 30 minutes.

At 2:01 a.m. (06:01 GMT) on Saturday, US helicopters landed at Maduro's compound in the capital, where the president and his spouse were subsequently detained. No feedback has been provided regarding whether they were taken without resistance, in a chaotic scramble, or during a firefight.

Two and a half hours later, at 4:29 am (08:29 GMT), Maduro was loaded onto a US aircraft carrier and sent to New York. Later, Trump shared a picture of the Venezuelan leader wearing a grey tracksuit and a blindfold on his social media site, Truth Social.

Maduro was flown by US soldiers after leaving the USS Iwo Jima, landing at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York at approximately 4:30 p.m. (21:30 GMT).

What was the death toll from the US strikes in Venezuela?

The Venezuelan government claims that the US strikes also affected the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira in addition to Caracas. The US attacks, according to public employee Linda Unamumo, generated an explosion so powerful that it demolished her home's roof.

"I was still crying till a little while ago. I was crying because I was so afraid. I had to move out of my home with my daughter and my family and into a neighbor's home. It was quite traumatic. Really, I wouldn't wish it on anyone," she said to the AFP news agency.

At least 40 people were murdered in the attacks, according to an official who spoke to The New York Times on condition of anonymity, even though official fatality figures have not yet been made public. Trump said he thought no one was killed in the operation, but a few US members were hurt.

What will happen to Venezuela next?

Trump declared that the United States will "run" the nation until a new leader was selected during his Saturday news conference.

"We will ensure that the nation is managed effectively. "This isn't a pointless endeavour," he declared. "This attack is extremely risky. This strike had the potential to go horribly wrong.

The president stated that he was "not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to," but he did not rule out sending US soldiers there.

Surprisingly, Trump also declined to collaborate with opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who had dedicated her award to the US president.

He declared, "She doesn't have the respect or the support within the country." Following Maduro's kidnapping by the United States, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was appointed interim president by the Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela's Supreme Court.

Rodriguez will take "the office of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the Nation," according to the court's ruling.

Additionally, the court said that it will seek to "determine the applicable legal framework to guarantee the continuity of the State, the administration of government, and the defence of sovereignty in the face of the President of the Republic's forced absence."

According to Rodriguez, Trump had stated earlier on Saturday that the US would not invade Venezuela.