Start Here BREAKING: US Strikes Venezuela, Captures Maduro
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Jan 3, 2026 Guests Luis Martinez, ABC News Pentagon reporter, and Matt Rivers, Latin America reporter, dive into the U.S. military's daring strikes on Caracas and the capture of Nicolás Maduro. Martinez details the tactical maneuvers, the elite forces involved, and the rapid extraction process. Rivers provides context, discussing the geopolitical implications and the uncertainty over who now leads Venezuela. They also debate whether this operation is a regime change or a law enforcement action, raising questions about future U.S. involvement in the country.
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Early-Morning Strikes And Capture
- Luis Martinez describes explosions in Caracas around 1 a.m. that revealed airstrikes and videos showing military targets being hit.
- He reports that later President Trump announced Nicolas Maduro and his wife had been captured and taken toward justice.
Strikes Enabled A Helicopter Extraction
- The operation combined airstrikes to disable defenses with helicopters inserting special operators for a snatch-and-grab extraction.
- Martinez says Delta Force and 160th SOAR likely executed rehearsed helicopter insertions to seize Maduro.
Rehearsals And The USS Iwo Jima Transfer
- President Trump said rehearsals delayed the mission and that Maduro was taken to the USS Iwo Jima after being snatched from a fortified location.
- Trump described Maduro's site as a fortress with massive steel doors that U.S. forces 'bum rushed' before closure.