‘At Least 40 People’ — Including Civilians — Killed in US Strike on Venezuela, New York Times Reports

(Photo Credit: Matias Delacroix)

The New York Times reported “at least 40 people were killed” in U.S. military strikes on Venezuela as part of President Donald Trump’s operation to capture dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Journalist Mariana Martinez reported “military personnel and civilians” were killed in the early morning attack on Saturday, based on a “senior Venezuelan official who spoke on condition of anonymity.” The official’s figure was based on “preliminary reports,” she added.

No other major outlets have reported at least 40 people have been killed by about 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Maduro and his wife were arrested and flown to the U.S. in the daring operation. He was charged in federal court in New York with narco-terrorism conspiracy, weapons charges, and cocaine-importation conspiracy. Maduro and three other defendants trafficked “thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States,” according to the indictment.

The indictment called Maduro the “illegitimate ruler of the country” who “sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking. That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite.”

President Trump told reporters earlier on Saturday the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for the time being. The president added the U.S. would “get the oil flowing the way it should be” because America had “built that whole industry there.”

Trump posted a picture of Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima on Truth Social following his capture; the image of Maduro in a grey Nike sweatsuit briefly jammed up the president’s social platform.

The Washington Post championed Maduro’s capture as a “major victory for American interests.”

A few Democrats complimented the operation as well, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

“The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela… is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule,” she wrote on X.

Other Dems said it was great to see Maduro go — but criticized Trump for not alerting Congress. Trump told reporters he could not give Congress a heads up because lawmakers have a “tendency to leak.”

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