Trump claims Maduro, his wife, captured, taken out of Venezuela

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday in a Truth Social post that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of Venezuela.

Trump confirmed that the United States launched "a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro."

"There will be a News Conference today at 11 A.M., at Mar-a-Lago," Trump said in his post.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on early Saturday morning barred U.S. aircraft from flying at any altitude within Venezuelan airspace following reports of explosions in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, citing "safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity."

Earlier on Saturday, large explosions were heard and aircraft were seen over Caracas, with air raid sirens sounding across the city.

Reports said brief power outages occurred in some areas, including a military base in Caracas.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry issued a statement firmly rejecting and strongly condemning the U.S. government's extremely serious acts of military aggression against Venezuela's territory and people, and said it was exposing these actions to the international community.

Trump claims Maduro, his wife, captured, taken out of Venezuela

Trump claims Maduro, his wife, captured, taken out of Venezuela

Trump claims Maduro, his wife, captured, taken out of Venezuela

Trump claims Maduro, his wife, captured, taken out of Venezuela

The United States cannot legitimize an operation that attacked Venezuela and captured its president, a Chinese scholar said Sunday.

On Saturday, the United States launched a large-scale strike on Venezuela, during which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were 'captured and flown out of Venezuela' according to a post by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account.

Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Diplomatic Studies at Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) that the aim of this operation is to take full control of Venezuela’s natural resources.

"I don't think the United States can legitimize this operation to take custody of the president of Venezuela. And also I don't think the United States can legitimize its any action in taking the oil reserves of that country. This is actually a very dangerous game played by the Trump administration. And of course, the United States would like to take full control of that country and to take full control of the natural resources, especially the large reserve of oil in Venezuela," said Teng.

Teng said Venezuela is not an isolated case but a common practice by the United States. The United States launched an invasion of Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, which continued until January 1990, with the stated objective of capturing Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega on charges of drug trafficking and organized crime.

"We still remember the so-called sentence of the former president of Panama in the late 1980s. And this time, the president of Venezuela will be under some judicial condition (judicial proceedings) for the so-called drug trafficking and some other crimes. So I think this is not a single case for the Venezuela country, but also this is actually a practice by the United States -- to use force, to use so-called justice under law against any leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean waters," he said.

US cannot legitimize operation against Venezuela: Chinese scholar