Trump pledges to keep Venezuelan oil flowing to China after Maduro capture

US military strikes hit Venezuela’s capital before dawn on January 3, 2025, shaking Caracas as US President Donald Trump reported that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured and taken out of the country by US forces. The attack followed months of US sabre rattling and Chinese warnings over growing US military and economic pressure on its oil-producing ally. It also came hours after Maduro met China’s special representative on Latin American affairs, Qiu Xiaoqi, in Caracas. The US Justice Department accused Maduro – who has been in power for nearly 13 years – of using his “illegally obtained authority” to ship “thousands of tons of cocaine” into the US.