The "capture" of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by US forces, announced by Donald Trump early on Saturday morning, followed months of escalating tensions between the Trump administration and Venezuela.
While Mr Maduro remained publicly defiant in the face of US pressure to step down — all while the US built up a sizeable military force on Venezuela's doorstep, and carried out dozens of fatal strikes on alleged drug trafficking vessels — in private he was taking measures to dodge a potential US strike, and even reportedly negotiating with American officials over a possible managed exit.
Here's what we know so far about Mr Maduro's capture, and how relations between the United States and Venezuela reached such a critical point.
A special forces raid in the dead of night
After explosions and low-flying aircraft were reported in Venezuela's capital early on Saturday morning, Mr Trump announced on his Truth Social site that the US had carried out a "large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader", conducted "in conjunction with US law enforcement".
While the precise details of the attack are yet to be confirmed, early reports indicate significant air strikes on military installations in Caracas, the country's capital. The Venezuelan government says three nearby states — Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira — were also targeted.
US officials also told media outlets that the US Army's Delta Force, an elite special forces unit reserved for dangerous covert missions, had conducted a raid to capture Mr Maduro, who Mr Trump says has since been "flown out of the country".
The US president provided no details as to where or for what purpose Mr Maduro might have been taken, however the involvement of "law enforcement" agencies in the operation could indicate the Trump administration intends to try the Venezuelan leader on narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges, for which he was indicted in the Southern District of New York in 2020.
There were no American casualties during the raid, officials said, but the question of Venezuelan casualties has so far gone unanswered.
While the sudden capture of the Venezuelan leader has shocked some in the international community, the move appears to have been anticipated by some in the Venezuelan government, including Mr Maduro himself.
While he publicly belittled the prospect of US action against him or his government, he had reportedly taken to frequently changing where he slept and rotating through mobile phones in the months leading up to the attack, anticipating a potential precision strike on his residence or a special forces raid.
The New York Times reported he had also expanded the role of Cuban bodyguards and counterintelligence officers in his inner circle, to reduce the risk that he would be betrayed by Venezuelan officials increasingly viewing his leadership as untenable in the face of US pressure.
In the days prior to the attack, Mr Maduro also attempted to reach out to the Trump administration, floating the prospect of working together to combat drug trafficking.
It followed reports in October that Venezuelan officials had proposed to the White House a managed exit for Mr Maduro, in which he would step down in three years' time — a proposal the White House is said to have rejected.
Drug war put a target on Maduro's back
While recent White House rhetoric has focused on Venezuela's alleged role in trafficking drugs into the United States, it is fair to say personal tensions between the two presidents have also been escalating for close to a decade now.
Mr Maduro rose to power in 2013 following the sudden death of Venezuela's first socialist president, former military lieutenant colonel Hugo Chavez, and led the country through years of political turbulence.
In 2017, the first Trump administration imposed sanctions on Venezuelan oil, amid claims of a humanitarian crisis unfolding under Mr Maduro's leadership.
A year later, Mr Trump labelled Mr Maduro's landslide re-election a "sham" — a view shared by much of the international community, given several opposition candidates were banned from running against him.
A similar situation unfolded in 2024 when Mr Maduro was re-elected for a second time, and Mr Trump continues to say the Venezuelan regime "systemically undermines democratic institutions" by suppressing free and fair elections and consolidating power illegitimately.
During his own 2024 election campaign, Mr Trump pledged to stop the importation of dangerous drugs such as fentanyl into the US from countries including Mexico and China — and since taking office, he has used drug trafficking as his primary justification for amping up pressure on Venezuela.
In March last year, Mr Trump signed a proclamation that designated the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as a Foreign Terrorist Organization that had "unlawfully infiltrated the United States" and was waging "irregular warfare" against Americans.
The Trump administration also alleged Mr Maduro was the quasi-leader of another US-listed Foreign Terrorist Organization — the Cártel de los Soles, a vaguely defined group of military and political leaders which the White House claims he funded "to carry out its objective of using illegal narcotics as a weapon to 'flood' the United States".
Mr Trump has also repeatedly claimed that Venezuela released prisoners from its jails who then relocated into the US.
Mr Maduro has always denied any involvement in crime, and repeatedly claimed the US was pursuing regime change in a bid to control Venezuela's natural resources.
The Trump administration used the allegations as a legal and political basis to support 35 military air strikes that have been launched since September on vessels accused of trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
At least 115 people have been killed in those strikes, according to figures released by the US military.
Massive military build-up led to raid, land strikes
In October, Mr Trump said he authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela.
That decision coincided with the largest build-up of US military forces in the region since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the deployment of the USS Gerald R Ford — the world's largest aircraft carrier — with about 15,000 personnel to the region.
The carrier arrived on November 16 with its strike group, joining at least seven other warships, and a nuclear submarine.
In response, Mr Maduro led a public display of repeatedly calling for peace while mobilising 200,000 national military members and encouraging Venezuela's civilian army — the Bolivarian Militia — to take up arms in the event of any foreign attack.
In recent months, Mr Trump threatened to order US military strikes on targets on Venezuelan soil.
On December 30, a drone strike was launched on a docking area Mr Trump said was used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct land operation in the country.
Within days, the US's military presence in the region extended further into Venezuela and resulted in the "capture" of the country's president.
