US Was Ready For Venezuela Strike Before Christmas. What Delayed It

Months of planning and rehearsal, over 150 defence assets and a team with its eyes trained on the progress of 'Operation Absolute Resolve' looked to US President Donald Trump for a go-ahead, but were kept waiting for days. The reason: the unpredictable weather Venezuela witnesses at this time of the year.

Speaking at a briefing after US forces flew into deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's compound on Saturday and arrested him and his wife Cilia Flores, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine said "low clouds, mountains and oceans" posed hurdles to the mission that was ready for implementation since before Christmas. And then, the weather broke just enough to clear a path that "only the most skilled aviators in the world could manoeuvre".

On Friday, 10.46 pm ET, came Trump's words that sprung the entire joint force into action - "Good luck and godspeed".

Follow Updates On US Strike On Venezuela And Maduro's Arrest

Helicopters and aircraft flew from across 20 bases in the Western Hemisphere into Caracas at night and by 2.01 am ET on Saturday, the US forces touched down in Maduro's compound. Defeanening explosions rang cross Caracas. The operation, which marked air, ground, maritime and intelligence collaboration, lasted under 30 minutes. Less than three hours later, the forces, Maduro and Flores were on US soil.

Back at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Trump watched the attack play out. With him was Secretary of State Marco Rubio and State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. Trump later recalled in a conversation with Fox & Friends, "We were going to do this four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, and then all of a sudden it opened up. And we said: go!"

After he was brought to the US, Maduro was lodged in a New York jail, with a court appearance due on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, corruption and diplomatic passport fraud, among others.

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Trump's interest in tapping into Venezuela's massive crude reserves also became clearer. "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure. We'll be selling large amounts of oil," he said. Venezuela produces just under a million barrels of crude a day, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and sells most of it on the black market at steep discounts.

The Republican leader appeared to reject the possibility of the country's opposition taking power, instead saying he could work with Maduro's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. Rodriguez poured cold water on that prospect, demanding Maduro's release and vowing to "defend" the country.

The United Nations Security Council will meet at Venezuela's request on Monday to discuss the crisis.