The United States assesses that about 75 people were killed during the U.S. military raid that captured Nicolás Maduro in Caracas last Saturday, according to a report by John Hudson citing Dan Lamothe published between 12:15 a.m. and 12:45 a.m. UTC on January 7. This sizable death toll provides context for President Donald Trump's remarks describing the operation as “effective” but “very violent,” as stated in the report shared by Hudson on X. The assessment comes amid ongoing fallout from the Delta Force raid. Earlier tonight, between 11:45 p.m. UTC on January 6 and 12:15 a.m. UTC on January 7, Delcy Rodriguez declared seven days of national mourning for Venezuelan and Cuban regime members killed in the operation, according to X posts by @OrlvndoA and @agusantonetti. Separately, in the same reporting window, Vera Bergen shared a New York Times article from January 5 stating that the Justice Department has backed off a claim promoted by the Trump administration last year accusing Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles drug cartel.
