US launches strikes on Venezuela and captures president
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 January 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The United States has captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and launched a “large-scale” strike against the country, according to US President Donald Trump. It follows weeks of heightened tension as the US president ramped up pressure on the Venezuelan leader. We get reaction from the US and wider region.
Also in the programme: the Swedish workers trialling a “friendship hour” to combat loneliness.
(Photo: Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro holds Simon Bolivar’s sword as he addresses members of the armed forces, Bolivarian Militia, police, and civilians during a rally against a possible escalation of US actions toward the country, at Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas, Venezuela, November 25, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.8 | Hello to you and welcome to News Hour from the BBC World Service. We're coming to you live from London. I'm Sean Lay. |
| 0:16.4 | And we're going to be devoting most of this hour to the fast-moving events in Venezuela and the |
| 0:21.0 | apparent detention and removal of Nicholas Maduro. What happened and what will happen to |
| 0:26.4 | the Venezuelan president? How's the government in Caracas reacting? Will the Americans take |
| 0:31.4 | further action? What's Venezuela's opposition hoping for? And can the government of Venezuela |
| 0:36.4 | survive without its leader? |
| 0:39.4 | For months now, US President Donald Trump has been signalling his determination to see Venezuela's |
| 0:44.6 | President Nicolas Maduro out of power. In the early hours of Saturday morning, he apparently |
| 0:50.0 | did something about it. At a little before 2 a.m. local time, aircraft were heard flying over Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, and explosions around the city. A local resident recorded this. |
| 1:05.4 | Ah, no. |
| 1:10.3 | Three hours later came this statement from US President Donald Trump |
| 1:15.5 | on his media platform Truth Social. |
| 1:18.4 | The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela |
| 1:23.3 | and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, |
| 1:26.2 | who has been, along with his wife, captured and |
| 1:28.8 | flown out of the country. The operation was done in conjunction with US law enforcement. |
| 1:34.4 | Not since President George H.W. Bush in 1989, as the United States used military force |
| 1:40.4 | to depose a head of state in the Americas, General Manuel Noriega of Panama. |
| 1:45.2 | CBS News, the BBC's partner in the US, says that the Maduro's were seized by Delta |
| 1:49.5 | Force, an elite special operations unit. Mr Trump is expected to give details at a news conference |
| 1:55.2 | later today. For people in Venezuela, there is only uncertainty. On state television, |
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