Early Saturday morning, US Special Forces captured Venezuela's President,
Nicolas Maduro, along with his wife, in a surprise military operation.
After months of build-up at 2.01 a.m.
local time today in Caracas, Venezuela,
US Delta Forces slipped into the home of dictator Nicholas Maduro.
U.S.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Maduro had been,
along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country.
This comes after weeks of the U.S.
ramping up pressure on the government of President Nicholas Maduro,
including seizing two oil tankers and conducting deadly military strikes on alleged drug boat smugglers.
The Trump administration has given several justifications for its actions against Maduro.
Now, Maduro is facing charges for drug and gun offenses.
For many years after his term as president of Venezuela,
expired Maduro remained in power and waged a ceaseless campaign of violence,
terror, and subversion against the United States of America.
Through a translator in a New York court today,
Maduro declared his innocence, and said he is still the president of Venezuela.
His wife also pleaded not guilty.
But Trump said there was also another motivation for all this.