The streets of the Venezuelan capital appeared relatively quiet on Saturday, according to video obtained by Reuters, with empty streets and shoppers forming long lines at supermarkets following the overthrow of longtime dictator Nicolás Maduro by the United States.
Early Saturday, the US attacked Venezuela and deposed Maduro in an operation carried out during the night, said President Donald Trump, in Washington’s most direct intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989.
Trump said Maduro was in custody and that American authorities would take control of Venezuela until a “safe, appropriate and judicious transition” occurred.
It is unclear how Trump plans to oversee Venezuela. Despite a dramatic overnight operation that left part of Caracas without electricity and captured Maduro in or near one of his hideouts, American forces have no control over the country itself, and Maduro’s government appears to still be in charge.
Any serious destabilization in the nation of 28 million people threatens to hand Trump the kind of quagmire that has marked U.S. foreign policy for much of the 21st century, including the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq — which were also premised on regime change.
