 "Smoke raises at La Carlota airport after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. AP")
Tension between the US and Venezuela was escalating for months. On Saturday (January 3), it reached a boiling point after the US captured President Nicolas Maduro following strikes against the South American country.
Trump says Maduro has been flown out of the country , while the Venezuelan government demanded “immediate proof of life” for Maduro and his wife, who has also been captured.
The standoff between the two nations started with the US attacking what it claimed were Venezuelan drug boats in September. Trump, on Monday (December 29), intensified his pressure campaign on Maduro, with the CIA carrying out a drone strike on Venezuelan soil.
According to announcements from the Republican administration, US military forces have continued to blow up alleged drug smuggling boats in South American waters, and there have been 35 known strikes since early September that have killed at least 115 people. Meanwhile, Maduro insisted the real purpose of the US military operations is to force him from power.
As the faceoff intensifies, here is a timeline of the US military actions in Venezuela:
January 3, 2026
US President Donald Trump has said that US forces have captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife after large-scale airstrikes on Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
This came hours after at least seven explosions shook the streets, and sounds that resembled aircraft were heard around 2 am in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, on Saturday. Videos circulating on social media have captured the blasts that hit the city. Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, told Associated Press (AP), “The whole ground shook. This is horrible. We heard explosions and planes in the distance. We felt like the air was hitting us."
The Venezuelan government accused Washington of attacking civilian and military installations in multiple states. In the statement, the government called on its supporters to take to the streets. “People to the streets!” the statement said, adding that, “the Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilisation plans and repudiate this imperialist attack."
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration has banned US commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace over “ongoing military activity” ahead of explosions in Caracas.
December 31, 2025
The US military said it attacked two more boats, killing five people who were allegedly smuggling drugs along known trafficking routes. It imposed sanctions on four firms operating in Venezuela’s oil sector. It designated four additional oil tankers as blocked property and as part of the larger shadow fleet evading US sanctions on Venezuela.
December 30, 2025
The US military struck three more boats that were allegedly smuggling drugs, killing three people in the first boat, while people from the other two ships jumped overboard and may have survived, US Southern Command announced the following day.
According to two people familiar with details of the classified operation, the CIA was behind the drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels.
It is the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes in September. Venezuelan officials have not acknowledged the strike.
December 22, 2025
Trump confirmed that the US Coast Guard is chasing another oil tanker that the administration describes as part of the “dark fleet."
The US military said it attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four people.
December 20, 2025
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the US Coast Guard, with help from the Defence Department, stopped a second oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
December 18, 2025
The US military asserted it conducted two more strikes against boats that were allegedly smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific, killing five people.
December 17, 2025
The House Republicans rejected a pair of Democratic-backed resolutions that would have put a check on Trump’s power to use military force against drug cartels and Venezuela. They were the first votes in the House after Senate Republicans previously voted down similar war powers resolutions.
December 16, 2025
Trump said he’s ordered a blockade of all “sanctioned oil tankers” going into and out of Venezuela, a move that seems designed to put a tighter chokehold on the South American country’s oil-dependent economy.
Trump alleged that Venezuela is using oil to fund drug trafficking, terrorism and other crimes and vows to continue the military buildup until the country returns to the US oil, land and assets, though it was unclear why the president feels the US has a claim.
Hegseth said the Pentagon will not publicly release unedited video of the Sept 2 strike that killed two survivors, even as questions mount in Congress about the attack and the overall campaign near Venezuela.
December 15, 2025
The US military struck three alleged drug-smuggling boats, killing eight people, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the Southern Command announces.
December 10, 2025
The US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela after the ship left that country with about 2 million barrels of heavy crude.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the tanker was involved in “an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations.” Venezuela’s government says the seizure “constitutes a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”
December 4, 2025
Four people are killed in the 22nd strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, according to a post from Southern Command.
Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley appeared for closed-door classified briefings at the Capitol as lawmakers began investigating the strikes. The investigation began following reports that Bradley ordered a follow-on attack that killed the survivors of the first strike on Sept. 2 to comply with Hegseth’s demands.
November 16, 2025
Trump said the US “may be having some discussions ” with Maduro and that “Venezuela would like to talk,” without offering details. “I’ll talk to anybody,” Trump said. “We’ll see what happens.”
The Ford arrived in the Caribbean, a significant moment in the Trump administration’s show of force.
The aircraft carrier’s arrival brought the total number of troops in the region to around 12,000 on nearly a dozen Navy ships in what Hegseth has dubbed “Operation Southern Spear.”
November 15, 2025
Three people were killed after the US military conducted its 21st strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, according to a post from Southern Command a day later.
November 11, 2025
Venezuela’s government launched what it said was a “massive” mobilisation of troops and volunteers for two days of exercises prompted by the US military buildup.
Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López asserted that Venezuela’s military is “stronger than ever in its unity, morale and equipment.”
November 10, 2025
The 20th known strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs killed four people in the Caribbean, according to a social media post from the US military’s Southern Command.
November 9, 2025
The US military struck two vessels in the eastern Pacific, killing six people, according to an announcement from Hegseth the following day.
November 6, 2025
Hegseth announced the 17th known strike, which killed three people. Senate Republicans voted to reject legislation that would have limited Trump’s ability to order an attack on Venezuelan soil without congressional authorisation. Lawmakers from both parties had demanded more information on the strikes, but Republicans appeared more willing to give Trump leeway to continue his buildup of naval forces.
November 4, 2025
In the 16th known strike, Hegseth posts on social media that two people were killed aboard a vessel in the eastern Pacific.
November 1, 2025
Hegseth announced the 15th known strike, saying three people were killed.
October 31, 2025
UN human rights chief Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strikes, in what appeared to be the first such condemnation from a United Nations organisation.
Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Türk’s office, relayed his message at a briefing: “The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”
October 29, 2025
Sen Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Trump administration briefed Republicans — but not Democrats — on the boat strikes.
The Senate at the time was facing a potential vote on a war powers resolution that would prohibit strikes in or near Venezuela without congressional approval.
October 29, 2025
Hegseth said the US military carried out another strike on a boat he said was carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific, killing all four people aboard in the 14th attack.
Hegseth says three more strikes were carried out in the eastern Pacific, killing 14 people and leaving one survivor.
October 27, 2025
Pentagon chief says Mexican authorities “assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue” of the sole survivor, who is presumed dead after Mexico suspended its search.
October 24, 2025
Hegseth said the military conducted the 10th strike on a suspected drug-running boat, leaving six people dead. The same day, he ordered the US military’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the region, marking a significant escalation of military firepower.
October 22, 2025
Hegseth announced the ninth strike, another in the eastern Pacific, saying three men were killed.
October 21, 2025
Hegseth asserted that the US military launched its eighth strike against an alleged drug-carrying vessel, killing two people in the eastern Pacific.
The attack marks an expansion of the military’s targeting area to the waters off South America, where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.
October 20, 2025
Rep. Adam Smith, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, called for a hearing on the boat strikes.
“Never before in my over 20 years on the committee can I recall seeing a combatant commander leave their post this early and amid such turmoil,” Smith said in a statement about Holsey’s impending departure. “I have also never seen such a staggering lack of transparency on behalf of an Administration and the Department to inform Congress on the use of lethal military force meaningfully.”
October 17, 2025
The US military attacked a seventh vessel that Hegseth said was carrying “substantial amounts of narcotics” and associated with a Colombian rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN. Three people are killed.
October 16, 2025
Trump said the US struck a sixth suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean, killing two people and leaving two survivors who were on the semi-submersible craft.
The president later asserted the survivors would be sent to Ecuador and Colombia, their home countries, “for detention and prosecution.” Repatriation avoided questions about their legal status in the US justice system.
October 16, 2025
The Navy admiral who oversaw military operations in the region says he will retire in December.
Adm. Alvin Holsey became the leader of US Southern Command only the previous November, overseeing an area that encompasses the Caribbean and waters off South America—such postings typically last three to four years.
October 15, 2025
Trump confirmed he has authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and says he is weighing carrying out land operations in the country. He declined to say whether the CIA has the authority to take action against Maduro.
October 14, 2025
Trump announced the fifth strike against a small boat accused of carrying drugs, saying it killed six people.
October 8, 2025
Senate Republicans voted down legislation that would have required the president to seek authorisation from Congress before further military strikes.
October 3, 2025
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth asserted he ordered a fourth strike on a small boat he accused of carrying drugs.
October 2, 2025
Trump declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and said the US is now in an “armed conflict” with them, according to a Trump administration memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo appeared to represent an extraordinary assertion of presidential war powers and drew criticism from some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
September 19, 2025
Trump said the US military carried out its third fatal strike against an alleged drug-smuggling vessel. Several senators and human rights groups continue to question the legality of the strikes, describing them as a potential overreach of executive authority.
September 15, 2025
The US military carries out its second strike against an alleged drug boat, killing three people.
Asked what proof the US has that the vessel was carrying drugs, Trump told reporters that big bags of cocaine and fentanyl were spattered all over the ocean. However, images of what Trump described were not released by the military or the White House.
September 10, 2025
In a letter to the White House, Democratic senators said the Trump administration has provided “no legitimate legal justification” for the strike.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a floor speech that week that the US military is not “empowered to hunt down suspected criminals and kill them without trial.”
September 2, 2025
The US carried out its first strike against what Trump says was a drug-carrying vessel that departed from Venezuela and was operated by Tren de Aragua.
Trump says all 11 people on the boat were killed and posts a short video clip of a small vessel appearing to explode in flames.
August 19, 2025
The US military deployed three guided-missile destroyers to the waters off Venezuela.
The naval force in the Caribbean grows within weeks to include three amphibious assault ships and other vessels, carrying about 6,000 sailors and Marines and a variety of aircraft.
The US deployed F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico in September, while a Navy submarine carrying cruise missiles operates off South America.
February 20, 2025
The Trump administration formally designated eight Latin American crime organisations as foreign terrorist organisations.
The label is usually reserved for groups like al-Qaida or the Islamic State that use violence for political ends — not for profit-focused crime rings.
January 20, 2025
Trump signed an executive order that paves the way for criminal organisations and drug cartels to be named “foreign terrorist organisations.” They include Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang.
The US intelligence community had disputed Trump’s central claim that Maduro’s administration is working with Tren de Aragua and orchestrating drug trafficking and illegal immigration into the US.
With inputs from Associated Press