The US launched military operations in Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Images from the country showed multiple strikes and fires. US President Trump announced that Madura was captured.
An executive from state oil company PDVSA said the La Guaira port was severely damaged but that oil facilities were unscathed. Trump
We will wait to hear what Trump has to say about the plans for what comes next but in December he talked about the 2007 seizure of some assets from American oil companies and that his intention was "getting land, oil rights, whatever we had" returned.
"They took it away because we had a president that maybe wasn't watching. But they're not going to do that again."
"We want it back," he said. "They took our oil rights — we had a lot of oil there. As you know they threw our companies out, and we want it back."
Russia responded to the reports saying that if actions took place "constitute an unacceptable violation of the sovereignty of an independent state".
US Senator Mike Lee said he spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio who said "Maduro has been arrested by US personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant."
The EU foreign affairs representative Kaja Kallas said:
I have spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and our Ambassador in Caracas. The EU is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela. The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition. Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint. The safety of EU citizens in the country is our top priority.
For markets, this might be a short-lived event but that could change quickly depending on how Venezuela responds. My guess is that America had local help and there is some kind of coup underway, otherwise Maduro will be replaced by deputies.
In terms of markets, Venezuela has massive oil reserves but its production and exports are less than 1 million barrels per day and have been disrupted recently anyway.
What could be more concerning is the message this sends in Latin America and how China and Russia respond.
