Updates: Maduro brought to New York after being seized by US in Venezuela

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You can follow all the latest on our new live page here.

You can watch the moment US President Trump said that “a team” from the US will be running Venezuela for now, here.

Watch how Venezuelans reacted to Maduro’s capture with a mix of fear, joy, and hope, here.

Read about how Colombia is bracing after Maduro’s removal by the US here.

Finally, read our explainer on all we know about the US raid in Venezuela, here.

This live page will close soon. Here’s a look at the day’s top developments:

• Explosions and loud noises rocked Caracas overnight, with at least seven explosions reported and low-flying aircraft seen over the city.
• A top US military officer later confirmed that Trump ordered the military, which had been preparing for the attack on Venezuela for months, to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
• US forces took Maduro and his wife to the US warship USS Iwo Jima, and the two are now believed to have arrived in New York state, where they are due to be indicted.
• Crowds of Venezuelan expats gathered in numerous cities across the world to celebrate the capture of Maduro, who had led the crisis-afflicted Venezuela since 2013.
• Protests calling for the release of Maduro also took place, with some Venezuelans expressing disbelief that a foreign government would remove their president.
• Trump said that the US will run Venezuela with a group, and US Secretary of State Rubio will be working on the details.
• Rubio said the government of Cuba should be “concerned” after the US’s military strikes on Venezuela.
• Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned the US for attacking Venezuela and capturing its president at a rally of thousands of Havana residents in front of the US Embassy in the Cuban capital.

The African Union has issued a statement in which it says it “continues to follow with deep concern the recent events in… Venezuela, including reports of the kidnapping of the President Nicolas Maduro, as well as military attacks against Venezuelan institutions”.

Like many statements issued by world leaders and international bodies, it stated its commitment to the fundamental principles of international law, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the right of peoples to self-determination, as enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

Zack Polanski has accused Starmer of “subservience” to the US after the UK prime minister failed to criticise the US’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro.

The leader of the Green Party, which has been gaining support at the expense of Starmer’s Labour, also hit out at Nigel Farage, the leader of the right-wing Reform UK party.

“Starmer and Farage both drape themselves in flags but once again it’s really clear where their loyalty really is,” Polanski wrote in a social media post.

“It’s Trump first. They will always be on the side of the super rich and powerful – no matter how heinous the crime.”

Farage had said that the US move in Venezuela goes against international law but “may be a good thing”. Starmer called Maduro illegitimate and said his government will “discuss the evolving situation with US counterparts”.

Continuing his remarks to the New York Post, Trump said that “many Cubans lost their lives” in the US military operation to capture Maduro.

“They were protecting Maduro. That was not a good move,” Trump said.

In the lead-up to the US attack, the Venezuelan leader was described in US media as being heavily reliant on advisers and bodyguards from Cuba, one of Venezuela’s close allies.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Cuban government officials should “be concerned” by the US’s attack in Venezuela. But Trump told the New York Post that he would not carry out similar attacks in Cuba.

“No, Cuba is going to fall of its own volition,” Trump said. “Cuba is doing very poorly.”

In a statement on X, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel “⁠welcomes the removal of the dictator who led a network of drugs and ‌terror”.

Saar said Israel “hopes for the return of democracy to ‌the country and ‌for friendly ⁠relations between the states”.

Maduro’s claimed victory in the 2024 presidential election has been widely disputed.

Independent experts have verified results published by the opposition showing a victory for candidate Edmond Gonzalez.

Despite fraud claims, Chavismo, the ideological movement spearheaded by Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has remained influential in Venezuela.

In municipal elections in July, Maduro’s party won 285 of 335 mayoral seats nationwide, as well as 23 of 24 governorships.

While analysts note that the sweeping results were partly due to an opposition boycott of the polls, and not necessarily representative of public opinion, they have also warned that the continued influence risks internal division and potentially conflict in the event of US intervention.

Chavismo is named after left-wing leader Hugo Chavez, who led the country from 1999 to 2013.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat who embraced Trump’s MAGA movement in 2024, had previously criticised US policy towards Venezuela.

“The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela. Let the Venezuelan people determine their future,” Gabbard said in a January 2019 post on X. “We don’t want other countries to choose our leaders, so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.”

Gabbard has long been a major critic of US intervention abroad and aligned with Trump’s pledges to end foreign wars.

Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that Trump failed to justify the military action he ordered in Venezuela and bypassed Congress’s constitutional war powers.

“Venezuela is ruled by an illegitimate regime, but the Administration has not made the case that an urgent threat to America’s national security existed to justify the use of US military force,” said Pelosi, a longtime Trump critic, in a post on X.

Pelosi also said it would be “hypocritical” of Trump to justify Maduro’s seizure by accusing the Venezuelan leader of “drug trafficking”, after Trump pardoned Honduran President Hernandez of that same crime.

“Congress must be fully and immediately briefed on the strikes and regime change in Venezuela, the objectives and extent of this operation, and how the Administration intends to prevent further regional fallout,” said Pelosi.

Venezuela is ruled by an illegitimate regime, but the Administration has not made the case that an urgent threat to America’s national security existed to justify the use of U.S. military force.

President Trump has made no secret of his intentions to effectively abolish the…

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) January 3, 2026

US presidents have for decades widely interpreted their executive power to justify unilateral military actions abroad.

This has been despite the US Constitution granting Congress the sole ability to declare war. Trump’s military buildup against Venezuela – and strikes on alleged drug boats in nearby international waters – have occurred in murky legal territory.

Experts note that Congress has continually failed to use its authority to rein in Trump, with two War Powers resolutions related to Venezuela failing to pass in December.

Even Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, told Vanity Fair in a December article that US military “activity on land” in Venezuela would be “war” and, therefore, require Congressional approval.

Trump did not seek congressional approval ahead of Saturday’s operation.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Venezuelans “could only rejoice” at the news, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his country would “shed no tears”.

Macron expressed hope that opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia would take over as president, naming him as the victor of Venezuela’s disputed 2024 election.

Starmer said the UK sought “a safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people”.

The UK has long supported a transition of power in Venezuela. We regarded Maduro as an illegitimate President and we shed no tears about the end of his regime.

I reiterated my support for international law this morning. The UK government will discuss the evolving situation with…

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) January 3, 2026

Members of Congress say they did not see this coming.

In fact, they were told by the White House that there would be no regime change.

Now, given the fact that there has been a removal of the Venezuelan leader, top Democrats in both the House and the Senate are demanding briefings by the White House, which are reportedly going to take place early next week.

The briefings are not only to give an explanation for the legal basis of the president’s actions, but also to explain what the endgame is.