The Trump administration’s Jan. 3 capture of President Nicolás Maduro bore some familiar echoes to the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama that ousted military strongman Manuel Noriega — and marked the most direct U.S. intervention in Latin America since.

The legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear.

The United States military operation that whisked away Venezuela’s sitting president from a fortified compound in the heart of capital Caracas neatly unified three aims of the Trump administration - stopping the flow of illicit drugs across the southern border,

The capture of Maduro is the easy part. What comes next will test whether America has learned anything from its history.

Nicolas Maduro and his wife are expected to face federal charges related to drug trafficking and working with gangs designated as terrorist organizations.

Venezuela’s toppled leader Nicolás Maduro was in a New York detention centre on Sunday awaiting drug charges after President Donald Trump ordered an audacious raid to capture him, saying the US would take control of the oil-producing nation.

US President Donald Trump’s assault on Venezuela has been lambasted as “illegal” and an act of “kidnapping”.

Trump accused Panama of charging excessive rates for use of the Panama Canal and said that if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable fashion, he would demand the hand it over.

In swift early morning attack, explosions ring out in Caracas as US helicopters, special forces operate there; Venezuelan VP demands 'proof of life' of Maduro, first lady

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been captured and flown out of Venezuela after the US carried out a large scale strike, US President Donald Trump announced. Follow for live updates.

Once a critic of entanglements abroad, Trump now appears willing to embrace regime change as a tool of American influence, risking a backlash from his MAGA base.