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Trump Announces Maduro Captured after Attacks on Venezuela. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired January 03, 2026 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Welcome, folks. You are watching breaking news here on CNN. I'm Fred Pleitgen, live from London.

And that breaking news is U.S. president Donald Trump is confirming U.S. attacks on Venezuela and announcing the capture of president Nicolas Maduro.

Mr. Trump is calling it a, quote, "brilliant operation" and says on social media that Maduro and his wife have been flown out of the country after the U.S. carried out a, quote, "large-scale strike." Trump says there will be a news conference at 11 am this morning at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

The Venezuelan government has not confirmed that Mr. Maduro has been captured. It accuses the U.S. of, quote, "military aggression" after multiple explosions struck the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country early on Saturday morning.

The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee was not notified ahead of any military action in Venezuela, sources tell CNN. Video shows what appeared to be military helicopters in the skies above Caracas.

People in the Venezuelan capital were seen following the developments on their phones as reports of the attack emerged in the early hours of Saturday. And I want to go straight to Caracas, Venezuela's capital, to journalist Mary Mena, who's been following the situation for us.

Mary, what's the latest from what you're hearing?

MARY MENA, JOURNALIST: Yes, right now we are listening to the Venezuelan vice president, Delcy Rodriguez. She is acknowledging the situation, addressing the situation and saying, we don't know where Nicolas Maduro is.

She is on a phone here (ph) in the state channel, giving information in Venezuela. So far, since this started about four hours ago, there's been little information coming from the government. But this is the second government official that is speaking. The first

one was general Vladimir Padrino, who said that the military government, there will be a massive deployment of military forces in across the country in Venezuela.

And also, well, the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, and one of the strongest figures of the Maduro government, is right now speaking in the state channel. As I said, this began about four hours ago.

But over the past two hours, the city has remained calm, relatively calm, in silence. There's no more -- there's not a lot of people driving on the city.

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They have decided to remain here in the capital and in their homes. They have decided to stay at home due to security concerns. The government released a statement saying they will call a state of emergency. And that information is being reiterated by the Venezuelan vice president.

We don't know the exact implications of this state of emergency, if it is implied that nobody can drive around the city for the next coming hours or even days. And this is unprecedented. This is history in the making for Venezuela.

With the confirmation made by president Donald Trump, it means that the leader, the mandatory (ph) of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, is out of the country. So this is -- this has to follow some certain security concerns or plans put in place by the government of Nicolas Maduro that remains here.

Most of the people that surrounds Nicolas Maduro remains in Venezuela. So we are trying to listen and following careful what they are saying because they will -- that will lead to what is going to happen over the coming hours in the country.

As I said, the buildings and the city remains with electricity, with the internet. And that was one of the main concerns for citizens. If something could happen in Venezuela, if they will lost the electricity and that is not the case.

It was a target, a strike against three states of Venezuela, as the government of Nicolas Maduro has been reporting, Miranda state, La Guaira and Aragua state that concentrates many military facilities.

PLEITGEN: And as you've been speaking, we have heard that vice president Delcy Rodriguez, who, we have to point out to our viewers, is one of those who is closest to Nicolas Maduro.

She's also the former foreign minister of Venezuela as well, has pointed out that, under the constitution, she is now the one who is in power. And she's also demanded a proof of life of Nicolas Maduro.

But we do seem to see that right now even the inner power structure doesn't know where Nicolas Maduro is. What does that mean for the power structure for the government in

Venezuela, this uncertainty?

And I see that the -- that the line to Mary, the audio line has dropped once again, obviously very difficult situation right there in Venezuela. We'll try and get in touch with Mary Mena again, because obviously she's the one who's on the ground.

But joining me now is our own contributor, Stefano Pozzebon, who has reported extensively and reports extensively from Venezuela, has spoken to Nicolas Maduro on various occasions.

And Stefano, I want to pose the question that I wanted to ask Mary to you. We have heard that Delcy Rodriguez has now come out and said, under the constitution, she would be the one who's in power. She's demanded proof of life of Nicolas Maduro.

But it certainly seems as though the inner circle has no idea where Nicolas Maduro is right now.

What does that mean for the power structure in Venezuela?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that it means, at least for now, it means complete chaos. For years, we did describe Nicolas Maduro as the minimum common denominator between the various factions that make up the Venezuelan government.

And I refer to the judiciary but also the military, the socialist party, different souls that the Venezuelan regime has to support its stability amid geopolitical but also and most importantly, economic crisis.

Nicolas Maduro has always been the man on top. And what he thinks that we're seeing and we're witnessing in front of our eyes, as Mary was, are cameras, what is a kinetic operation, a targeted operation from the United States to remove just that very, very top element, just Nicolas Maduro himself.

It doesn't seem like that there is -- has triggered yet a regime collapse and remains to be a question. The question remains there of what happens next for Venezuela itself, because perhaps Donald Trump can be just content with these -- Donald Trump can be just content with these results.

He has been in this campaign against Nicolas Maduro, personal campaign against Nicolas Maduro, since at least July, when Maduro was indicted on drug trafficking charges. Then he said several times that Maduro's days are over and that he advised Maduro, well, one another.

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It seems like Nicolas Maduro has been removed and we are eager (ph) to learn more about this operation in this news conference that the president has said will do from Mar-a-Lago at 11 am local time in Florida. But what that means for the people of Venezuela, well, that remains to

be seen, if that regime that was coalescing around Nicolas Maduro will now respond to that.

Delcy Rodriguez, who is the second in command, the vice president and most importantly, the economic mind behind the government or if indeed the army and the other military supporters will coalesce around other figures such as the interior minister.

A person called Diosado Cabello, who is also on the U.S. wanted list, or the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, who also spoke to the nation a few minutes ago.

But it's remarkable news to start 2026 with, Fred. I've been covering Venezuela for pretty much the last 10 years. And never in any scenario was the possibility of Nicolas Maduro just going by the snap of a finger, just going so quickly, being taken into consideration.

And this is seems like it's just what happened in front of our cameras. I would want to be in Caracas to hear from the reaction of the people on the ground, whether finally seeing that Maduro is gone will break through that wall of fear and allow people to get back into the streets.

Perhaps to celebrate the fall of the authoritarian leader or if indeed, as I was saying, everything will just coalesce around Delcy and will just be a, you know, one authoritarian leader replacing another one.

Delcy Rodriguez, by the way, is a far more feasible person to speak with, from Washington point of view, compared to Nicolas Maduro for several reasons.

First of all, Rodriguez is not involved in drug trafficking in the first place. According to the United States Department of Justice, she has not been indicted like many other government officials on drug trafficking charges.

And, of course, for many leaders, not just in the Americas but all around the world, we've always linked Nicolas Maduro and his government to the image of that dramatic economic crisis that has caused more than 8 million Venezuelans to leave their country.

The reason why so many countries care about Venezuela is that is because millions of Venezuelans had to leave their home country looking for better opportunities in countries like Colombia, Argentina, Spain, here in Europe but also the United States, of course.

And then, of course, it's been a crisis that has impacted the entire global community. It's been the largest migration exodus, even larger than the Syrian civil war, for example. So Maduro has for many people been a real kryptonite, a real toxic figure because of his reputational damage that he had.

He at some point was impossible to -- for him to move away from the image of the dictator that that pushed so many people out of his own country.

Delcy would now perhaps have the chance of coming with a blank mandate and try to pick up the pieces and to reestablish the coalition that allowed Nicolas Maduro to endure in power for so long, despite the pressure and the economic crisis of the last few decades.

Or perhaps the United States would want to go and get the job done once and for all. And the demand for the opposition to take power, that is because, of course, in June and July 2024 presidential election, that was not enough for Maduro to leave.

And his chief ally, Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize just in October, well, of course, they would argue that they are the ones entitled to rule the country now. So, of course, a lot of uncertainty, however, Fred,; of course, history in the making, just in front of our eyes.

PLEITGEN: Yes, certainly is a lot of uncertainty and a lot of things that you're going to be covering over the next couple of hours. Stefano Pozzebon, thank you very much, there in Italy. But, of course, usually our man on the ground in Venezuela.

And I'm joined now by -- from the other dateline that is very important for the story. And that's Washington, D.C, by our national security reporter, Haley Britzky.

We've heard from the president. Now we've heard from president Trump now via Truth Social.

Give us the latest from what, from the U.S. perspective, from what they're saying.

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HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. This was a remarkable, you know, unfolding of events here. President saying that president Maduro has been captured and removed from the country, along with his wife.

We still don't know exactly what military assets were involved in this operation. The president said it was a lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops, is certainly something that would be under planning for quite so time to carry off an operation like this as quickly as it happened.

And we know that the U.S. military has been building up a lot of firepower in the region. There were 10 -- or over 10,000 troops, roughly 15,000 U.S. service members deployed into the Caribbean, stationed, you know, on various aircraft carriers in Puerto Rico.

We saw a huge surge of military assets in the region, which really underscored how serious the president has been when he's been discussing removing Maduro.

And the pressure campaign that the White House has been leaning into on this, this a source familiar told me earlier this morning, that the Senate Armed Services Committee was not notified ahead of time about this operation.

The president saying that he would address the issue of congressional authority in a press conference later this morning, as well as what comes next for this operation and for president Maduro. So we still have not heard directly from the Pentagon as far as additional details about this operation.

Who was involved?

As some of the experts, you know, previously this morning have said, something like this often would include Special Operations Forces but we don't have that confirmed for sure and we do not know exactly how this unfolded.

So it's certainly something that we'll be waiting to hear more about at 11 am at the president's press conference in Florida.

PLEITGEN: Yes, thank you very much, Haley Britzky in Washington.

And we'll be right back with more of this major breaking news out of Venezuela. Stay tuned, folks.

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PLEITGEN: Back to our breaking news out of Venezuela. U.S. president Donald Trump has confirmed that the United States carried out a, quote, "large-scale strike" against Venezuela. He says Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and flown out of that country.

The Venezuelan vice president says she is now in charge and Maduro's whereabouts are unknown.

In a brief phone interview with "The New York Times," president Trump called it a, quote, "brilliant operation."

His announcement comes after explosions were reported in the capital, Caracas, and other locations a short time ago. Venezuela's government is accusing the U.S. of a very serious, grave military aggression. A source tells CNN that the Senate Armed Services Committee was not notified ahead of time of any potential military action in Venezuela.

And I am joined now by Carlos Solar, senior research fellow in international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute.

Carlos, first of all, these seem to be groundbreaking developments. I just want to get your take on what appears to be unfolding in Venezuela right now.

CARLOS SOLAR, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY STUDIES, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: Absolute groundbreaking events happening. We've been watching the U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean unfold for the last five months.

But it certainly -- the U.S. was saying something. The message was real. The amount of air warfare that you had in Puerto Rico, for instance, so close to Venezuela and four months, five months up to the U.S. compiling intelligence on where the Venezuelan air coastal defense was, where the regimental troops (ph) were deployed.

Most certainly what Maduro's movements were at the moment. But it's all starting to make sense. All the pieces of the puzzle in this very quick operation, early in the morning on the 2nd of January, everyone probably just waiting for the new year,

This long weekend of the new year in Latin America to finish on Saturday. So quite surprising. But if we take a step out, we can clearly see that the U.S. planned this in ahead of time.

We can see that there were explosions from the eastern side of Venezuela toward Caracas in this -- in the city center and in the center of the country. So clearly we had an operation with a good doses of diversion in the east.

And then I have seen some, some footage about helicopters flying low in the Caracas aerospace, which means that you had to get rid of the anti-aircraft in order for those, for that operations, to minimize the risk of U.S. troops that were in more intentionally (ph) very briefly in the city center of Caracas, probably picking up Nicolas Maduro.

PLEITGEN: And Carlos, what could happen next?

Could there be a popular uprising against the power structure?

Could Delcy Rodriguez, who claims that she's now the one who is in power, hold things together, possibly build new ties to the United States?

Does the opposition have anything to say about all this?

Are they in a position to possibly take over?

What could be the next steps?

SOLAR: Yes, there are many elements. As you've as you've mentioned, I think the 11 am Mar-a-Lago call from president Donald Trump will give us a little bit of light in terms of where Nicolas Maduro is.

Whether there was a negotiation on his exit and whether the U.S. regime structure will survive with Nicolas Maduro. We need to think that the Venezuelan regime was first Hugo Chavez and then Nicolas Maduro. Everyone else is just the eggshell of Nicolas Maduro's power on Venezuela.

So with him gone, we'll need to see how the U.S. will deal with this. These are all the stages that analysts and everyone else was saying that we don't know. Mostly because the White House or the department of war or the State

Department have not been able to give a clear strategy toward what's going to happen in Venezuela on this second stage, once that Maduro has been removed.

So Delcy Rodriguez -- and we've seen other news pieces from the regime in Caracas saying that they will hold, that this was basically a violation of sovereignty. They have been quoting U.N. international law and so on.

But this is the regime of Maduro. So Maduro and international law, it doesn't equate to much. It will -- certainly Latin American countries will react to this. It's still quite early in Latin America.

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There will be the cry, there will be a voice against the attacks in Caracas. But we need to look at the midterm and the long term of what's going to happen in Venezuela.

I think the opposition needs to be a constructive opposition in terms of this. Probably Nicolas Maduro will say something from wherever he is toward giving sight of the regime needs to be gone.

The U.S. will have to negotiate something with Delcy and the gang that's still in Caracas. For instance, an amnesty. You need to think that the entire armed forces of Venezuela is on the rise, is that they were prepping for war over the last five months.

So what do you do with the hundreds of thousands of both paramilitaries and militaries up on arms in Caracas?

So there are many elements coming up together, which I think the U.S., because they've already conducted this attack, they will need to take certain ownership of what's the political pathway toward Venezuela from January 2026 onwards.

PLEITGEN: Important context. Carlos Solar, thank you very much for joining us today.

And we'll be right back with more of this breaking news out of Venezuela.

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PLEITGEN: Folks, you're watching CNN and we are covering major breaking news out of Venezuela. I'm Fred Pleitgen right here in London.

And obviously we have the U.S. president, Donald Trump, now saying that the United States conducted a major raid and has captured Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, and his wife and brought them to a different place, brought them out of the country.

We have some reaction right now that I want to bring to you. This is really fresh.

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It comes from U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah.

And he says -- I'm reading a tweet that he posted on X -- "Just got off the phone with secretary of state Marco Rubio," he says.

"He informed me that Nicolas Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant."

So obviously, those U.S. forces who were going into Venezuela.

"This action," he goes on; I'm quoting again, "likely falls within the president's inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual imminent attack."

Goes on to say, "Thank you, Marco Rubio, for keeping me apprised."

So that's some of the first reaction that we're getting from inside U.S. politics. And Trump also says -- the U.S. president -- that there will be a news conference at 11 am Eastern time this morning at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Now the Venezuelan government says Maduro's whereabouts are unknown. That's after multiple explosions struck the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country early this morning.

Venezuela's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, says she is now in power as the next leader of the country under the rules of the constitution. She is demanding immediate proof of life for Maduro and his wife.

And a source tells CNN that the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee was not notified ahead of any military action in Venezuela.

Video shows what appears to be military helicopters in the skies above Caracas several hours ago. And we want to go straight now to journalist Mary Mena, who is standing by in Venezuela's capital, has been covering all of us -- all of this for us throughout the entire morning.

I see the sun has now risen over Caracas. What's the latest from where you are?

MARY MENA, JOURNALIST: Yes, as you said, the latest information that we have is Venezuelan vice president demanding a proof of life of the leader, Nicolas Maduro. She says -- or she's asking the citizens to remain calm, to preserve the sovereignty of the country.

Right now, as you said, we heard those airplanes and helicopters flying over the city of Caracas. But right now there's quiet in the city. As you said, the sun is starting to come up. The sunset (sic) is right here in -- it's almost 7 in the morning in the city.

This happened about four hours ago. And I can -- I want to show you how the -- to give you a sense of how the city is behaving is that, so far we can hear even the birds in the city because it's so quiet. All the buildings are, of course, with lights on.

Since this news broke at about 1:52 in the morning and most people have decided to remain at home. The vice president is saying they implement -- they will implement a state of emergency. We don't know the decisions that they will take in the following hours.

This is unprecedented for the country, that a leader is taken out of the country for foreign military forces and it's history in the making for Venezuela. We heard the blast. We heard the airplanes. This took about -- it was a quick operation that took for about 45 minutes.

We heard the detonations. They were not permanent (sic). They were, slowly implemented, at least here in the capital, because it took place in three different locations and key locations, one in the Aragua state that gathers most of the military forces, especially the aviation.

Then the wider state that is also a key strategic place because it's the place that serves the airport, the main airport in Caracas. And then here, La Carlota airport, that is a military airport in the capital, Caracas.

PLEITGEN: Mary Mena, thank you very much, there live in Caracas for us this morning. I know you'll stay across all of this and bring us the latest once you get it.

And right now I'm joined by Vanessa Neumann. She is the former special envoy from Venezuela to the U.K. and to Ireland.

And first of all, Vanessa, I just want to get your take on what's unfolding in Venezuela right now.

And I see Vanessa; we're having some trouble with the audio there. But we'll try and get that fixed for you.

Until then, we're going to take a short break. But on the other side of that, we're going to have much more breaking news out of Venezuela.

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PLEITGEN: Welcome back, everybody, and we are updating you on the major breaking news. U.S. president Donald Trump confirming U.S. attacks on Venezuela and announcing the capture of president Nicolas Maduro. Senator Mike Lee from Utah says secretary of state Marco Rubio has

told him Maduro was arrested by U.S. forces and will face a criminal trial in the United States.

That's after president Trump posted on social media, quote, "This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. Details to follow. There will be a news conference today at 11 am that morning, Eastern time at Mar-a-Lago."

That is what the president added. And video shows helicopters flying over Caracas as the operation was underway in the early morning hours shortly before 2 am local time, it appears.

A source is telling CNN that the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee was not notified of potential military action in Venezuela. Want to go live now to Mick Ryan, a retired Australian army major general.

And Mick, obviously, this a very bold operation by the United States.

How would something like this have unfolded?

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: Well, this would have taken a lot of planning, would have taken a lot of exquisite intelligence around the locations, not just of military personnel but also the location, minute by minute, of the president and his key staff.

The U.S. military are experts at this kind of intelligence collection. So that would have been the critical enabler before the operation was launched

PLEITGEN: And what kind of assets are necessary for this?

Because, I mean, as we know, you don't just fly choppers into Caracas and get the president out of a building. You need obviously, the U.S. Air Force flying overhead. You need probably intel aircraft flying overhead as well.

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What assets would be necessary to conduct an operation like this, not only to be effective but, of course, also to protect the troops that are part of it?

RYAN: Well, I wouldn't be surprised if there was other government agencies on the ground, ensuring that key government people stayed home through different means.

There would have been suppression of air defenses and ensuring that any response forces that might be loyal to the president were either destroyed in their bases or the routes to where the president might be captured were cut off.

So I think this was all part of the enabling activities for the U.S. Army's Delta Force to go in and capture the president of Venezuela. PLEITGEN: Yes, it's interesting because a U.S. senator, Mike Lee, has

come out and said he spoke to the U.S. secretary of state and said -- who said that apparently this military operation, he believes, is justified by protection of U.S. forces.

So meaning obviously, those strikes that we saw.

Does it seem to be more clear that they probably were taking out air defense systems?

Because we're hearing that some of them were at key airports in Venezuela, military airport and civilian airport.

RYAN: Well, it looks like so far, from what we can see -- and as we know, first reports are generally wrong with military operations. But they used what force was necessary to get the special operators in safely, to capture their target and get them out safely.

I mean, they don't want to have more people in the area of operations than they really need to.

PLEITGEN: How do Special Forces prep for something like that?

You've obviously been very high up in the Australian military, very close relations with the U.S. military, because it's a -- it's a daring operation. You're going into a place where the president of a country, who presumably is protected by a lot of people and in a protected space, is doing his best to not be taken by the U.S. military.

How do they prep for something like this?

Do they have dry runs?

Do they possibly reconstruct maybe some of the areas where they think the president, Maduro, might have been?

RYAN: Well, U.S. Army's Delta Force really are the tip of the spear when it comes to Special Operations forces worldwide. They really could be described as exquisite. They train, they rehearse and they do it over and over and over again until they know just about any potential contingency that might come up.

But they also select the kind of people that, besides very, very well prepared and rehearsed, if something unforeseen does come up, they can adapt quickly and overcome whatever obstacles might be in their path.

So you know, this is going to be studied for a long time, once we have the details, of a classic Special Operations recovery activity.

PLEITGEN: And you're obviously a very broad military expert with so much experience. We know that the Venezuelans have very close military ties, for instance, to Russia. A couple of years ago, the Russians flew some of their most capable strategic bombers to Venezuela.

What does this mean in terms of regional stability but also in terms of Venezuela's relations with Russia?

And how could the Russians react to all this?

RYAN: Well, I think it shows once again that countries that partner up with Russia don't do so well. The Syrians found that out. The Venezuelans have now found that out and others are sure to find that out in the future.

I mean, Russia's not a very reliable partner. They will give you lots of kind words but when you really need their help, they're not going to be there, just as Russia wasn't there for him tonight.

PLEITGEN: Mick Ryan, thank you very much for that analysis.

And we will be right back with more of this breaking news coverage out of Venezuela.

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PLEITGEN: Welcome back, folks, and we're continuing our breaking news coverage as U.S. president Donald Trump confirms U.S. attacks on Venezuela and announces the capture of president Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

Mr. Trump is calling it a, quote, "brilliant operation" and says on social media that Maduro and his wife have been flown out of the country after the, quote, "large-scale strike." U.S. Republican senator Mike Lee posted this, saying he spoke with secretary of state Marco Rubio.

Quote, "He informed me that Nicolas Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the U.S. and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant."

Mr. Trump says there will be a news conference at 11 am Eastern time this morning at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The Venezuelan government says Maduro's whereabouts are unknown. That's after multiple explosions struck the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country early this morning.

Venezuela's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, says she is now in power as the next leader of the country under the rules of Venezuela's constitution. She's demanding immediate proof of life for Maduro and Maduro's wife.

I'm joined now by our own Isa Soares. She has reported extensively from the region, including Venezuela and other countries around the region as well. She also recently interviewed Venezuelan opposition activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Maria Corina Machado.

First of all, Isa, you've been watching all of this unfold this morning. I want to get your take on what we're witnessing now happening in Venezuela.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think any of us saw this coming. We knew the pressure was certainly intensifying against Nicolas Maduro. That had been the plan very clearly for months now from the U.S. administration, not just going after boats but going after the oil, as we have seen.

So those big tankers -- and we've seen those alleged boat strikes across the Caribbean. So we've seen the pressure campaign. Worth bearing in mind, we saw similar pressure campaign during Trump's first term. Not this level, of course, Fred, but it's intensified.

And the aim has always been to try to dislodge Maduro; in particular, dislodge Maduro's inner circle. Those military figures are supporting him because the thinking always has been, if they can weaken that, they -- then Maduro is forced to step down, is forced to seek refuge.

That hasn't happened. And it happened in 2019. You remember Juan Guaido, the then president of Venezuela, was seen by many countries as the president of Venezuela.

And now we're seeing the U.S. upping that pressure and upping that pressure to a level that many of us did not see it coming. Yes, we were expecting some strikes on ports, of course, as well as military bases but not the removal of Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

[05:50:04]

This is a shock to many in Venezuela. Many people inside the country are telling me that they are celebrating quietly but they are scared to go outside. They are scared to go outside because they do not know who is in charge.

Where do forces stand?

Where do military operations stand?

And they are worried. One person said to me, sent me a message in the last 45 minutes, that they are worried of being captured. Fred. So there's so much uncertainty, so much unease right now.

That is not to say that people, many, the overwhelming majority of people in Venezuela will not be celebrating. They will.

Maduro has reigned over this country for 13 years in the most appalling way, suppressing, imprisoning, killing so many people, running a huge operation that -- not just drugs operation but also gold and mining, destroying the country in many people's eyes.

And, of course, as the opposition has said, stealing also an election. So many people will be quietly celebrating.

But this does not mean, Fred, this is important, that Chavismo is dead, because the question now is who runs the country?

Who's going to be in charge and how far, how well prepared they're going to be in running the military operation?

And will the generals that always supported Nicolas Maduro, of course, will they be up there?

Will they be standing next to Delcy Rodriguez, who, in the last few minutes has asked for the U.N. for a meeting at the United Nations?

Fred.

PLEITGEN: Yes. And I think we I think we need to expand on that, because I know that you've spent a lot of time on the ground in Venezuela. You've talked to people who -- of all walks of life, wealthy people, poor people.

Do you think that this power structure can survive?

You're absolutely right. It's entrenched. They have very strong generals, a strong military. Delcy Rodriguez, of course, one of those who was very close to Nicolas Maduro. I saw her in Moscow, actually, once at a press conference with Sergey Lavrov when she was still the foreign minister.

Is there a scenario where the power structure gets replaced?

SOARES: Look, I think it really depends on what happens the next few hours. The generals have maintained, you know, loyalty to Nicolas Maduro because the money has always been coming in, not from Nicolas Maduro but through not just the drugs, of course but mostly through some of the other illegal operations.

Mining gold, which I -- which I uncovered in an exclusive report in many years ago that really funnels its way all the up, all the way up the hierarchy. If there's a way to dislodge that, to try and break that apart, then we might see that, Fred.

But if Delcy can unite the center of the military and keep them running, including SEBIN, of course, which is the intelligence, who have incredibly much blood on their hands, then she can do it.

But it also depends what happens in the next few hours, because if Venezuelan people see it's starting to crumble, I wouldn't be surprised that they come out in the streets in force, that they take that by force, which I think many people would want to see, in particular, the United States, Venezuelans taking control and taking charge.

The question is, what does she do now?

How much does she have the ear of some of those generals?

We have heard very, very strong language from her, saying that she wants proof of life from the United States. I don't know whether she commands, though, that power among the military. Yes, she's very -- she's a very well-known voice, strong ally of

Nicolas Maduro. I'm not sure, though, whether the military will be heeding her call. And I think the next few hours will certainly be very telling or whether some of those military, some of those generals are not packing up and leaving in some way.

Because we don't know. And I know it's a conversation you've had in the last several hours.

Is this from the United States?

Do they think this is enough, just taking out Maduro, taking out, taking out his wife, removing them, of course, from the United States, from Venezuela?

Is that enough to topple it?

You need to go after the inner circle. If they see this as it, they may go and then that crumbles. But big questions right now about how entrenched some of those generals are and whether and whether some of them will back Delcy Rodriguez at this hour.

PLEITGEN: And as you've stated, Venezuela is requesting a U.N. Security Council meeting. But I want to delve into also, because you did recently interview Maria Machado, the Nobel Peace Laureate, who is obviously a big opposition figure for Venezuela.

Is the opposition in a position to take over?

What loyal forces do they command on the ground?

How much loyalty do they have on the ground?

We know that, for instance, Juan Guaido, a couple of years ago, that kind of fizzled after there was an initial uprising.

Where does that stand?

SOARES: I think were in different -- Juan Guaido is a different moment, of course. He didn't have the support. Well, he had the support in writing, in name from the United States. Nothing of this level, of course, for Maria Corina Machado.

[05:55:00]

She has been a defiant opposition figure, of course, in hiding inside Venezuela for so long. And it's worth bearing in mind that she won the last election. That was stolen from her by Nicolas Maduro. She has the overwhelming support of the Venezuelan people.

That's not to say there are pockets, of course, of Chavismo, who do not want to see her in power. But she has the overwhelming support of people. And the reason she decided to stay in Venezuela because she felt it was important that she stay there.

And she has more power inside the country than outside, of course. She has said repeatedly on air, on many interviews in the last few months, even before going, of course, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, that they are ready for a transition, that they are ready now.

Saying you're ready is one thing. Actually being ready is another.

How far, how soon would she be able to go in with her team is another question. Many of her team members have been arrested, of course, by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies.

Now it's a question of waiting to hear from her. I've tried ringing her team on numerous occasions, Fred. They're not getting through to us. I'm trying to get through to another one of her right-hand voices to get a sense of how far, how soon they're prepared to go in.

How, when will they speak?

Because this is important, too. Maria Corina Machado, if you remember, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, dedicated her peace prize win, Fred, to president Trump, who she believes has had huge power, of course, in shifting the dynamics inside Venezuela after Nicolas Maduro has been in power for 13 years.

But it is also important to say, at this juncture, there will be voices within the continent who will be incredibly worried. One of those is Petro of Colombia.

PLEITGEN: Isa Soares, thank you very much for those insights. You'll be providing a lot more of those for us as the day unfolds.

And folks, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Just to recap, we have heard U.S. president Donald Trump confirm that the United States has gone into Venezuela and taken out Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

I'm Fred Pleitgen. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next and picks up our breaking news coverage right now.