Starmer says the UK was ‘not involved’ in capture of Maduro and he ‘wants to speak to President Trump’

Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK was in no way involved in the attacks on Venezuela or the capture of President Maduro.

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro flew out of the country earlier today and was indicted in the US on drug and weapons charges.

Sir Keir said the UK was not part of the operation and wanted to speak to Donald Trump to find out more.

He said: ‘I want to establish the facts first. I want to talk to President Trump. I want to talk to the allies. As I said, I can clearly say that we were not involved in this.’

Trump made a statement earlier today and said that the USA ‘successfully’ carried out the military attack after multiple explosions in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

“The United States has successfully carried out a large-scale attack against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who was captured and sent out of the country with his wife,” Trump said.

‘This operation was carried out together with the US Law Enforcement Agency.’

Senator Mike Lee later confirmed Maduro’s arrest after a phone call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, adding that Maduro would be tried in the United States for the criminal complaint.

Lee said the US strikes were carried out ‘to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant’.

Trump announced that he would hold a news conference at Mar-a-Lago later in the morning to reveal more details.

The Venezuelan government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military facilities in several states.

Smoke rises during multiple early morning explosions in Caracas

Pedestrians ran away when an explosion was heard in Caracas

Eyewitnesses told Reuters that planes, loud noises and at least one column of smoke were heard and seen in the Venezuelan capital Caracas early on Saturday morning.

Smoke was seen rising from the hangar of the military base in Caracas. Another military facility in the capital was also left without electricity.

The explosions began at 01:50 local time, with one targeting Fort Tiona, where the Venezuelan defense ministry is headquartered.

Citizens flocked to the streets in various neighborhoods. Some of them were visible in the distance from various parts of Caracas.

‘The whole place shook. This is so scary. “We heard explosions and planes in the distance,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice shaking. He was walking briskly with two of his relatives on their way back from a birthday party. ‘We felt the air hit us.’

In its statement, the Venezuelan government called on its supporters to take to the streets.

‘People to the streets!’ The statement said: ‘The Bolivarian Government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and reject this imperialist attack.’

The statement added that President Maduro ‘ordered the implementation of all national defense plans’ and declared a ‘state of external turmoil’.

Venezuela’s communications ministry said New York Times It ‘rejects, rejects and condemns’ US military aggression.

State television did not interrupt the program and broadcast a news report on Venezuelan music and art.

Trump has repeatedly promised ground operations in Venezuela amid efforts to pressure Maduro to leave office, including expanding sanctions and increasing the US military presence in the region.

There have been more than two dozen US attacks on ships allegedly smuggling drugs in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea in recent months.

Republican senator Mike Lee says Nicolas Maduro has been detained pending criminal charges in the US

Eyewitnesses told Reuters that planes, loud noises and at least one column of smoke were heard and seen in the Venezuelan capital Caracas early on Saturday morning. It is not yet clear what caused the explosions.

Soldiers guard the area around the Miraflores presidential palace after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard

Colombian President Gustavo Petro posted on X: ‘They are bombing Caracas right now. ‘Warn everyone; They attacked Venezuela. They bomb it with missiles. (The Organization of American States) and the UN need to meet urgently.’

The Daily Mail reached out to the White House. The Pentagon and US Southern Command declined to comment.

The explosions come as tensions rise between Trump and the Maduro regime, with the first military ground attack on Venezuela carried out on Christmas Eve.

Multiple sources said the CIA that day carried out the first US ground attack on a port facility in Venezuela where drugs destined for the United States were believed to be stored.

Trump confirmed the Christmas Eve attack on Monday, just days after casually discussing an attack on a facility ‘where the ship came from’ in a radio interview.

The attack, carried out at a port that port officials believe is the home base of drug ships that the US military has allegedly targeted in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the past three months, signaled further escalation of tensions between the two countries.

Multiple sources have now said CNN The drone strike was carried out by the CIA, after Trump refused to weigh in on the theory.

Asked whether the CIA carried out the attack, Trump said: “I don’t want to say that. I know exactly who it is, but I don’t want to say who it is.”

Eyewitnesses told Reuters that planes, loud noises and at least one column of smoke were heard and seen in the Venezuelan capital Caracas early on Saturday morning. It is not yet clear what caused the explosions.

The CIA carried out the first US ground attack in Venezuela, which Donald Trump casually confirmed in a radio interview last week, further escalating tensions between the two countries

However, Trump had previously said that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.

Sources said the attack took place at a remote pier off the coast of Venezuela, believed to be used by the Tren de Aragua gang to store and transport drugs.

The CIA received intelligence support from US Special Operations Forces. No one was killed and no one was on site when the attack occurred.

It’s part of a growing effort to target what the Trump administration says are drug-smuggling boats bound for the United States.

It comes close to coastal strikes the military has so far carried out in international waters in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Speaking on WABC on December 26, Trump made the bombshell suggestion that US forces had already begun conducting ground operations in Venezuela.

‘I don’t know if you have read or seen it, there is a big factory or a big facility where the ships come from.’ President said During a conversation with radio host and billionaire John Catsimatidis, who replaced Sid Rosenberg.

“We knocked that down two nights ago, so we hit them hard,” Trump said.

Multiple explosions were reported in Venezuela’s capital Caracas amid Donald Trump’s escalating threats against leader Nicolas Maduro (pictured)

The president has said since late November that the US has moved away from naval attacks on drug ships and will launch land strikes in Venezuela ‘soon’.

Starting September 2, 2025, the War Department is conducting strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Atlantic.

According to figures released by the Trump administration, the number of known boat attacks as of Friday is 35, and the number of deaths is at least 115.

US Southern Command carried out its latest ‘deadly attack’ on Monday, killing two alleged ‘narco-terrorists’ in international waters.

But Trump said ground targets were ‘much easier’ and signaled this change with a series of comments warning that ‘ground strikes will begin very soon’ and ‘we will be launching the same program on the ground soon’.

He also warned Maduro that it would be ‘wise’ to resign, but did not go so far as to confirm that US military operations had forced regime change.

Venezuela on Friday said it was open to negotiating a deal with the United States to combat drug trafficking.

Maduro is accused of narco-terrorism in the United States.