Oliver Conway

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Mikä sana? Little. Little. Joo. Little. Ja vielä. Little. Jatkat vaan kunnes kirkastuu. Little prices. Little prices. Little. Little. Prisma. Big selection. Little prices. You're listening to a special edition of the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 12.30 GMT on Saturday the 3rd of January. The US says it's captured the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro after launching airstrikes on Caracas and other cities. Venezuela has declared a state of emergency and condemned the attack as a colonial war. We don't know where president Nicolas Maduro is.

From the banana wars of the early 20th century to Cold War proxy battles, the US has a long history of military intervention in Latin America. But not since the invasion of Panama nearly four decades ago has America unleashed the might of its armed forces in the region it considers its backyard. 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 defense minister said Venezuela's armed forces and people would fight to defend themselves. The vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, had this message for the United States.

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 Swaybi.

And that was our global affairs reporter Mimi Swaybi. Colombia has expressed profound concern about the US raid and sent troops to the Colombia-Venezuela border, while Venezuela's allies Russia and Cuba have condemned the attack. But Argentina's president welcomed the US intervention, posting on social media, liberty advances. So how might others react? Dr. Christopher Sabatini is an expert on Latin America at the international think tank Chatham House.

among many of Venezuela's neighbors, so they will welcome this change. But the governments themselves, especially of the left, will feel a duty to denounce this as a violation of national sovereignty. Christopher Sabatini of Chatham House. When Donald Trump returned to the White House a year ago, he promised to be a president of peace, vowing not to start any new wars. So what should we make of his attack on Venezuela, the biggest US intervention in Latin America for decades? A question I put to our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette.

According to comments attributed to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Maduro will be put on trial on criminal charges. I mean, that will be quite a sight.

What next for Venezuela? It's had years of authoritarian rulers, Nicolas Maduro and before him Hugo Chavez. We recently saw the Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado winning the Nobel Peace Prize. She had to flee Venezuela to get it. We don't even know if she's gone back yet, but where do you see things going from here?

Our chief international correspondent Lise Doucette. And as we record this podcast, the US Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the southern district of New York.

And that's all from this special podcast. We'll have further updates in later editions of the Global News Podcast. This edition was mixed by Gabriel O'Regan and produced by Daniel Mann, Ella Bicknell and Chas Geiger. Our editor is Karen Martin. I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.

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