MINUTE BY MINUTE: A US senator confirms that Maduro was captured

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2026

6:25 am │ ““The EU has repeatedly declared that Mr. Maduro lacks legitimacy.”

The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, stated this Saturday who spoke with the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, and with the ambassador of the EU itself in Caracas. He assured that Brussels was monitoring the situation in Venezuela “closely,” while calling for “containment” and demanding respect for “the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.” The official also stressed that “the security of EU citizens in the country” is “the top priority” of the regional bloc.

“The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr. Maduro lacks legitimacy and has advocated a peaceful transition,” Kallas recalled.

6:10 AM │ US Senator Mike Lee confirmed this morning that Nicolás Maduro had been captured and would be tried in the US after having a telephone conversation with the Secretary of State, the Cuban-American Marco Rubio.

“I just spoke on the phone with Secretary Rubio. He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by US personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the US, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” Lee wrote around 5:15 a.m. this Saturday.

Furthermore, the senator indicated that this action “probably” was framed “in the inherent authority of the president.” [de EE.UU.]according to article II of the Constitutionto protect US personnel from an actual or imminent attack.”

Shortly before, AP had published statements from Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who stated that the whereabouts of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were unknown and demanded “proof of life.”

On his network, Truth Socal, Donald Trump reported that the operation against Maduro, which the Venezuelan regime has already described as “a large-scale attack,” was carried out in conjunction with US law enforcement agencies.

At dawn on January 3, at least seven explosions and the passage of low-altitude aircraft were heard over Caracas. Shortly after, the Venezuelan regime accused Washington of attacking civil and military installations and classified the facts as an “imperialist attack”.

The Venezuelan Executive called for mobilization in the streets and maintained that Maduro had ordered the activation of national defense plans in the midst of a “state of external disturbance.”

On the US side, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ban on US commercial flights over Venezuelan airspace due to “ongoing military activity” before the explosions, while the site of the US embassy in Venezuela – closed since 2019 – recommended US citizens “take shelter” against reports of explosions.

The AP added that it was not clear whether the US Congress was officially notified about the operation and took up questioning from Republican Senator Mike Lee, who said he was waiting to learn what, if anything, could constitutionally justify the action without a declaration of war or an authorization for the use of military force.

The offensive occurs after months of escalating pressure from Washington against Maduro, whom the US has accused of narcoterrorism, and after previous actions linked to the US campaign against routes and structures associated with drug trafficking.