Oliver Conway

That has all changed under President Trump, despite his vow not to get involved in foreign wars.

For months, he's been agitating for the overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Since September, US forces have killed about 100 people on alleged drug boats in the region.

And at 2 o'clock this morning local time, the American military launched a major attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Footage posted on social media showed huge explosions across the city, while dozens of helicopters thought to be Chinooks and Apaches flew overhead.

Then, at around four in the morning in Florida, President Trump posted on Truth Social saying US forces had successfully carried out a large-scale strike on Venezuela and that the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife had been captured and flown out of the country.

Venezuela condemned the attack as a colonial war.

The defence minister said Venezuela's armed forces and people would fight to defend themselves.

The vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, had this message for the United States.

Ana Vanessa Herrero is a journalist in Caracas and she sent us this report.

Ana Vanessa Herrero in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

So what should we make of these extraordinary developments, I asked our America's correspondent, Will Grant, who is currently in Washington.

How was this operation possible?

How were US troops able to fly in to Caracas, presumably, and capture the Venezuelan president?

But we do know the US has been massing military forces off Venezuela for months and threatening military action.

What more do we know about the sites that were targeted overnight?

You're in Washington.

What will Americans make of this after President Trump promised not to get involved in foreign wars?

With the capture of Nicolas Maduro, attention will now turn to who will take over in Venezuela and what will be the role of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been living in hiding but who recently left Venezuela to receive her Nobel Peace Prize.

I spoke to our global affairs reporter Mimi Swaby.