Venezuela | Pakistan

United States President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the US might launch a second military strike on Venezuela following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro if remaining members of the administration do not cooperate with his efforts to get the country “fixed”. His comments to reporters aboard Air Force One raised the possibility of further US military interventions in Latin America, and suggested Colombia and Mexico could also face military action if they do not reduce the flow of illicit drugs to the United States. “Operation Colombia sounds good to me,” Trump said. He also said that Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own without US military action. He also insisted the US was “in charge” of Venezuela after the seizure of Maduro, but was also dealing with the new leadership in Caracas. Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez said at the same time that she was ready to work together with the Trump administration, asking the US leader for a balanced, respectful ...

The United States is ready to work with Venezuela’s remaining leaders if they make “the right decision”, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday after an audacious US operation removed the oil-rich country’s president, Nicolas Maduro. “We‘re going to judge everything by what they do, and we‘re going to see what they do,” Rubio told CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation’. “I do know this: that if they don’t make the right decision, that the United States will retain multiple levers of leverage.” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was in a New York detention centre on Sunday after US President Donald Trump ordered a US raid to capture the South American leader and take control of the country and its vast oil reserves. As part of the dramatic operation early on Saturday that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas and included strikes on military installations, US Special Forces seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transported them via helicopter to a US Navy ship offshore before flying them to the US. ...

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session on Monday amid mounting international alarm over the United States’ military action in Venezuela and concerns that the crisis has now moved beyond bilateral tensions. On Saturday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the crisis in Venezuela could undermine the foundations of international law by setting a “dangerous precedent“ for similar actions in the near future. The meeting was requested by Colombia and supported by China and the Russian Federation, with Venezuela also formally appealing to the Council. According to the Council presidency, the session will be held under the agenda item “Threats to International Peace and Security,” and the secretary general is expected to brief the members. In a statement issued through his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, Secretary General Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed by the recent escalation in Venezuela, culminating with today’s (Saturday) United States military acti...

Special forces remove Venezuela president, wife to NY; US takes control of Venezuela's huge oil reserves

The United States early on Saturday launched a “large-scale strike” on Venezuela, with President Donald Trump announcing that US forces had captured the South American country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro and his wife. “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,“ Trump said in a Truth Social post. Multiple explosions rocked Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, earlier in the day, and columns of black smoke and aircraft could be seen. Responding to the development in a video statement, Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino said the country would resist the presence of foreign troops. The strikes come after months of steadily mounting US military and economic pressure on Maduro and his country’s oil-export-dependent economy. Here is how the world is reacting to the development. View this post on Instagram All countries should uphold international ...

Key Developments Trump says US forces have captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a “large-scale strike”; hails “brilliant” operation US president says Washington will govern Venezuela until transition takes place Maduro and his wife indicted on weapon and drug charges, US attorney general says Venezuelan defence minister calls for united front of resistance in the face of “the worst aggression” ever US State Dept deputy chief declares ‘new dawn’ for Venezuela Venezuela calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting following strikes US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington would govern Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition takes place” after the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a military operation on Saturday morning. American forces had captured Maduro and his wife early on Saturday morning after launching a “large-scale strike” on the South American country. Addressing a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said,...

The US struck Venezuela and captured its long-serving president, Nicolás Maduro, on Saturday, President Donald Trump said, after months of pressuring him over accusations of drug-running and illegitimacy in office. Washington has not made such a direct intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega, over similar allegations. F-22, C-130 and F-35 aircraft are seen at the former Roosevelt Roads naval base. —Reuters US Air Force F-35 Lightning II fighter jets fly over before landing at the former Roosevelt Roads naval base. —Reuters A US Coast Guard HC-130J aircraft approaches for landing at the former Roosevelt Roads naval base, —Reuters A US Coast Guard HC-130J aircraft overflies the former Roosevelt Roads naval base before landing. —Reuters Smoke rises near Fort Tiuna, after US President Donald Trump said the US has struck Venezuela. —Reuters Picture of fire at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, after a series of explosions in Carac...

United States President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety”, but gave no further details as Washington ramps up pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government. “To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers, please consider the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. Venezuela’s communications ministry, which handles all press inquiries for the government, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Trump’s post. The US Defence Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. US strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean have been underway for months, along with a US military buildup in the region, and Trump has authorised covert operations by its Central Intelligence Agency in Venezuela. The president told military service members this week that the U.S. would “very soon” begin land operations to stop s...

The United States is poised to launch a new phase of Venezuela-related operations in the coming days, four US officials told Reuters, as the Trump administration escalates pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Reuters was not able to establish the exact timing or scope of the new operations, nor whether US President Donald Trump had made a final decision to act. Reports of looming action have proliferated in recent weeks as the US military has deployed forces to the Caribbean amid worsening relations with Venezuela. Two of the US officials said covert operations would likely be the first part of the new action against Maduro. All four officials quoted in this article spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of impending action by the United States. The Pentagon referred questions to the White House. The CIA declined to comment. A senior administration official on Saturday did not rule anything out regarding Venezuela. “President Trump is prepared to use every element of Amer...

US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he authorised the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, marking a sharp escalation in US efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The New York Times first reported the classified directive, citing US officials familiar with the decision, saying the Trump administration’s Venezuela strategy aims to remove Maduro from power. The administration has offered $50 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest and conviction on drug trafficking charges. The new authority would allow the CIA to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela and conduct a range of operations in the Caribbean, the Times reported. Asked why he authorised the CIA to operate in Venezuela, Trump told reporters his reasons were migration of Venezuelans to the United States and drug trafficking. “I authorised for two reasons really,” Trump said. “Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America…they came i...

Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado received the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The committee chose to focus on Venezuela at this time, in a year dominated by US President Donald Trump’s repeated public statements that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Machado was on this year’s TIME Magazine “100 most influential People” list, where current US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said she was the “personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism”. “She is receiving the prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo. “As the leader of the democratic forces in the Venezuela, she is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times,” he said. He said that Machado had been a “key unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided; ...