President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States carried out a decisive military operation in Venezuela overnight that resulted in the capture of socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and evangelical leaders at home and abroad reacted with a mix of alarm, shock and calls for prayers.
The operation followed months of strategic pressure and involved controlled explosions and the deployment of aircraft over Caracas, President Trump and U.S. officials said. Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, residence, President Trump described the operation as a “great operation” and said further details would be announced in the coming hours.
“The United States has successfully launched a major attack on Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who was captured and exiled along with his wife,” Trump said in a message posted on his Truth Social platform.
The response from Caracas was swift. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez acknowledged that there had been a foreign invasion and blamed it on the United States. In a televised address reflecting rising tensions in South America, Rodriguez said authorities did not know the whereabouts of Maduro and Flores after the attack.
This development marks a dramatic turning point for the broader region, coming after a long period of increased U.S. naval activity off Venezuela and the country’s coasts. While the international community and the Venezuelan people await further clarification, questions remain about the immediate political, humanitarian and security implications of the sudden change of government.
Evangelical leaders in Venezuela and abroad responded cautiously, urging prayer and restraint amid uncertainty.
José Piñero, president of the Evangelical Council of Venezuela, told Christian Daily International’s Spanish edition Diario Cristiano that it was too early to draw conclusions. “We will continue to pay close attention to future developments. It would be unwise to say anything yet,” he said. “We still don’t know the full extent of what happened. We have experience with the Carmonaço incident (a reference to the 2002 coup attempt). There are many prisoners in El Helicoid whose fate is unknown. We do not know whether there will be retaliation against civilians. In short, we are waiting and praying.”
Pastor Carlos Vielma, speaking from Caracas, described the shock of the early morning. “Early this morning, while I was sleeping, I suddenly woke up to a loud explosion and was startled,” he said. “There’s no electricity, no Wi-Fi. You’d be shocked at that time of night.”
Other evangelical leaders, especially those in exile, interpreted this event through a more explicitly spiritual lens. Aristotle López, a Floridian and founder of Venezuela’s Marcha para Jesús (March for Jesus), said Maduro’s capture and transfer to U.S. territory was divine intervention and an act of justice for his long-suffering country.
López said that despite months of emotional exhaustion and anxiety, the event shows that God has “never forgotten about Venezuela.” He added that the outcome fulfills a promise by the Trump administration, could send a geopolitical shockwave to other governments in the region, including Cuba and Nicaragua, and signals the end of what he called an era of impunity.
At the same time, Lopez warned that the fight is far from over. He urged those he referred to as “the rest” to continue praying to cement this moment. He also criticized religious leaders he believed were aligned with Maduro’s government for personal gain, accusing them of compromising their integrity and calling on them to step aside so the church could participate in Venezuela’s spiritual reconstruction.
José Rivero, leader of the H2D Foundation, also spoke from exile in the United States, saying the situation remained very complex. “The current scenario is even more complex. We need wisdom from above to get through it,” he said, adding that believers must continue to “trust in God.” Rivero called on people to continue praying for Venezuela as the situation continues to unfold.
Originally published by Diario Cristiano, the Spanish edition of Christian Daily International.
