New Delhi: US President Donald Trump has claimed to have captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in an early morning operation Saturday. Venezuela has declared a state of emergency.
The US launched strikes in Venezuela’s capital city Caracas, as well as the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira. President Donald Trump announced a “successful” completion of the air strikes in a post on X.
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely grave military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population in the civilian and military locations of the city of Caracas, capital of the Republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira,” the Government of Venezuela said in a statement.
The statement added: “The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, attempting to break the Nation’s political independence by force. They will not succeed.”
Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela had earlier called for an “armed struggle” which includes the full mobilisation of the Venezuelan people and its armed forces to guarantee the “sovereignty” of the country.
Tensions between the US administration and Maduro have been increasing in the last few months. The US has been seizing oil tankers asserting that they carry Venezuelan crude. Threateneing Venezuela for supporting drug smuggling, the US has attacked many small vessels off the coast of the country. At least 115 people have been killed in the attacks on small vessels according to the New York Times.
The US has amassed a sizable military presence in the region since August of last year. The seizure of oil tankers has severely impacted the Venezuelan oil industry. A country that faces heavy sanctions, Venezuela has survived partly due to its large oil reserves.
In the past, India has maintained certain investments in the Venezuelan oil industry.
The US has been eyeing Maduro’s removal for some time now. During Trump’s first tenure the US administration supported Juan Guaido’s attempt to remove Maduro from power. Guaido is a prominent figure in the Opposition in the country.
However, that effort failed. The US has been backing Maria Corina Machado, the political activist and recent Nobel Peace Prize Awardee to remove Maduro.
This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter, particularly its Articles 1 and 2, which enshrine respect for sovereignty, the legal equality of states, and the prohibition on the use of force. Such aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically that of Latin America and the Caribbean, and places the lives of millions of people in grave danger.
“The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack. The people of Venezuela and their Bolivarian National Armed Forces, in perfect popular-military-police fusion, are deployed to guarantee sovereignty and peace,” said the government of Venezuela in its statement.
The statement further added: “In strict adherence to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, Venezuela reserves the right to exercise legitimate defense to protect its people, its territory, and its independence. We call on the peoples and governments of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the world to mobilize in active solidarity against this imperialist aggression.”
The airspace over Venezuela is currently empty. Maduro, who describes himself as a Socialist, has long maintained his grip on power in a country that has seen its economy collapse. Millions of Venezuelans have fled to other countries including the US in the last decade since oil prices collapsed.
(Edited by Vidhi Bhutra)
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