The United States today (Saturday) filed indictments against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
The dictator was captured in an American operation as part of a widespread attack that was carried out this morning on the capital, Caracas, and other areas of the country.
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Trump announced that Maduro, along with his wife Cilia Flores, "were flown out of the country.".
CBS later reported that the capture was carried out in an operation by the American commando unit, Delta Force. In recent hours, the US government released the first photo of Maduro being captured by American forces.
ABC reported that the unit captured him after the CIA identified his exact location. One source claimed that President Trump gave the green light for the operation several days ago, and that soldiers were ready to strike as early as Christmas Day - but this was delayed.
In an interview with the New York Times, Trump himself celebrated the operation: "A lot of good planning and a lot of great soldiers and great people. It was a brilliant operation, really.".
US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Maduro is charged with "narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and means of destruction, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and means of destruction against the United States.".
President Trump was interviewed by the American Fox Network and said that there were no deaths among the American forces operating in Venezuela, but there were some wounded.
The president said Maduro was at his home, which Trump called a "fortress" - and did not make it to the security room before he was captured. Trump added that the United States intends to be "very involved in the Venezuelan oil industry.".
The American president said that the possibility of opposition leader, recent Nobel Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, taking over the leadership in Venezuela is being examined.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar referred to the coup in Venezuela and said that Israel "welcomes the action of the United States, which acted as the leader of the free world.".
In a post on his X account, Sa'ar wrote: "Israel welcomes the removal of the dictator who heads a drug and terror network. The people of Venezuela deserve to exercise their democratic right.".
Celebrations in Venezuela
According to a report on the Ynet website, the Jewish community in the Venezuelan capital is breathing a sigh of relief.
Community leaders: "In the past, our community numbered about 30,000 people, today the community has 4,000 people. The entire community prayed that the dictator of his generation would fall, we now have a sense of relief.".
R., a resident of Caracas, spoke about the events and feelings in Venezuela in an interview with 'Kan News'. According to her, she and her family were sleeping during the attack, and were awakened by loud explosions. "New Year's Eve had just passed, at first we thought it was fireworks. We saw on the news and on social media that people were filming things happening at the bases, and then we knew that something was really happening.".
R. said that residents receive details about the events through the news and social media. "We know exactly what you know outside of Venezuela, we have no more information than what Trump said on the news," R. said. According to her, the country's citizens now expect to know what will happen and are interested in the elections: "We want to live under the law and democracy, and that's what's happening now.".
The United States attacked Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, last night. Residents reported helicopters and planes in the sky and widespread power outages. The Venezuelan government declared a state of emergency and called on citizens to mobilize to "defeat this imperialist aggression.".
The attacks began around 2:00 a.m. local time. Explosions were also seen in the Venezuelan port and over Margarita Island, the largest of the Venezuelan islands. Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, released a list of targets he said were attacked, including military and civilian airports, the parliament in Caracas and the historic city center of the capital.
According to some reports, the mausoleum where the remains of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are buried was also attacked.
