Was Maduro's capture a 'negotiated exit'? Trump says 'no' but little resistance from Venezuela raises questions

The opposition in Venezuela claimed that the peaceful capture of president Nicolas Maduro and his wife by the US military could be nothing but a negotiated exit strategy, Sky News reported. The claim was made immediately after the US confirmed striking Venezuela and Maduro was reported missing. Later, the US confirmed that their military took Maduro and his wife waking up from their sleep and now they will face indictment in the US.

Trump claimed that Maduro and his wife were captured from a highly protected fortress by the US Army's Delta Force, which is an elite special forces unit reserved for dangerous covert missions.

Where were Maduro's bodyguards?

It is not known whether there was a conflict before the US military captured Maduo but several reports confirmed that the US forces did not appear to have encountered significant resistance from Venezuelan air defenses or land forces, despite claiming to have an arsenal capable of confronting, if not repelling, such an incursion.

Maduro had been reportedly growing paranoid about US airstrikes and earlier reports claimed that he was regularly rotating his sleeping beds and changing his cellphones to avoid having his location tracked.

Maduro also enlisted more Cuban counterintelligence officers, as he believed Venezuelan officers would betray him. He recently reduced the number of scheduled events and live broadcasts.

Trump says he rejected negotiation offer

As the details of the capture started to be revealed, Trump said Maduro wanted to negotiate in the final days before US forces captured him but he claimed he rejected that offer. “I didn’t want to negotiate,” he said. “I said, ‘Nope, we got to do it.’”

Latin America expert Mariano de Alba questioned why there were bombings at different sites if the aim was only to extract Maduro from Venezuela.