10:55 GMT 3 January 2026
President Donald Trump said the US military’s top counter terrorism unit Delta Force captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and flew them out of the country where it launched “large-scale” strikes on its capital Caracas and military sites.
The US had offered a $50m reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro who will stand trial in USA.
Venezuela’s government rejects and denounces “military aggression by the US” as it declared a state of national emergency.
Amid explosions in Caracas, Miranda, Aragua and La Guiria, (see map above), low-flying aircraft swept through the capital on Saturday morning , as leader Nicolás Maduro accused the US of attacking civilian and military installations following a pressure campaign.
The Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace because of “ongoing military activity” ahead of the explosions in Caracas. The explosions sent people rushing into the streets.
The apparent attack lasted under 30 minutes.Parts of the city lost power, but vehicles moved freely.
The December 2025 reports of ECO are in preparation and will be posted shortly.
As we get further news from Caracas and Washington, those will be posted here in advance of the publication of the new web page.
Tom Radford, Webmaster, ECO