The US carried out overnight strikes on Venezuela on Friday, shocking the capital, Caracas, by Saturday morning. President of the United States, Donald Trump, later confirmed that the President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were taken out of the country by US forces.
Pam Bondi, the attorney general of the US, said that the two will face charges for their involvement in a 2020 narco-terrorism case. The shocking attack and the overnight capture of the sitting President have been a result of months of campaign by the US government against Venezuela. The US has been conducting operations in the Caribbean Sea, where it has captured drug trafficking vessels and Venezuelan oil tankers.
Reports confirm that 110 people have been killed in these boat strikes, which, as per human rights groups, amounts to war crimes. The Venezuelan authorities have blamed the US for trying to capture the oil reserves in the country, which are the largest in the world. Post the operations, the US President, talking to Fox News, stated that the government of the United States will be involved in the Venezuelan oil operations in the coming times.
The month-long campaigns against the South American country had reached a major escalation with the blast I’m the capital following the capture of President Maduro. After the attacks, the future of leadership in Venezuela is uncertain.
Ever since Trump was elected for a second term, he has continued to pressure the Venezuelan President, Maduro, over drug trafficking in the US. He also accused him of being one of the largest drug traffickers in the world. Later, the US declared organisations like Tren De Aragua as terrorist outfits, and it also started attacking ships in the Caribbean Sea.
Further, the United States also began capturing Venezuelan ships and surrounding the South American country in the seas. The latest strikes have further exacerbated the conflict, making it a significant geopolitical threat amidst an already fragile situation.
