Trump: We're going to run Venezuela until transition

The United States will run Venezuela until there is a peaceful transition, Donald Trump has said, after US forces captured its president in an extraordinary overnight attack that has sent shockwaves around the world.

- REBECCA WHITTAKER BEL TREW

The US president said he was “not afraid to put boots on the ground” and warned a second wave of attacks on Venezuela could take place “if we need to do so” after Nicolas Maduro, who has ruled the country for nearly 13 years, was snatched from a military base by the Delta Force.

Explosions were reported across the country and low-flying aircraft were seen in Venezuela’s capital in the early hours of yesterday, as its government said the US had targeted civilian and military sites in multiple states in what it described as an "imperialist attack", urging citizens to take to the streets.

Mr Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transported by sea and air to New York yesterday evening, where they are set to face criminal charges. A photo of the 63-year-old in US captivity was shared by President Trump on social media.

The operation - the culmination of months of escalating Trump administration pressure on the oil-rich South American nation - has been condemned by several world leaders, as well as some senior politicians in the US, despite many of them welcoming the end of the Maduro regime.

The legal authority for the attack is not immediately clear and questions have been raised about the immediate future of Venezuela, with President Trump insisting the US would seize control of the country and its oil infrastructure.

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Mr Trump said at a Mara-Lago news conference where he boasted that this "extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives".

He claimed the American presence was already in place, though there were no immediate signs that the US was running the country.