Caracas: Venezuela Vice President Delcy Rodríguez on Saturday said that the whereabouts of country’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are unknown following the US attacks in Caracas, Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira in the early hours of the morning, local time.
Leading Venezuelan daily El Nacional reported that Rodríguez, in a telephone interview with Venezolana de Television, demanded proof of life for Maduro and Flores from the US government.
“Delcy Rodríguez called on the population to become active in a civic-military fusion to defend the country,” the newspaper reported.
Quoting sources consulted by Fox News, El Nacional reported that the nighttime US military operation involved a large deployment of Chinook helicopters and other special forces assets.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump claimed that the Venezuelan President and his wife have been “captured” and “flown out” of the country.
Taking to his social media platform ‘Truth Social’, Trump said, “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country.”
He mentioned that this operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement, and further details will follow during a news conference at 11 a.m. (local time) at Mar-a-Lago.
Several large explosions were heard early Saturday in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
The American media reported that Maduro was captured by a unit of the special and elite forces of the US Army’s Delta Force.
“Administration sources indicated that Trump gave the green light to the military attacks a few days ago, after several months of increased US military presence off the Venezuelan coast and calls from the White House for Maduro to step down,” reported El Nacional.
(IANS)
