US President Donald Trump said on January 3 that American forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife following large-scale strikes on the South American nation, in what would mark an unprecedented military operation against a sitting head of state.

"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump said the operation was "done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement" and announced he would hold a news conference at 11:00 a.m. at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to provide further details.

The announcement followed explosions that rocked Caracas around 2:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT), which Venezuela's government had earlier denounced as a "very serious military aggression" by the United States. The blasts affected civilian and military locations in the capital and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, according to Venezuelan authorities.

Maduro had earlier declared a state of emergency and ordered "the deployment of the command for the comprehensive defence of the nation" in response to what Caracas characterised as an attempt to seize Venezuela's oil and mineral resources.

The claimed capture would represent an extraordinary escalation in a months-long US military pressure campaign that has intensified since last summer. Trump has accused Maduro of heading a drug cartel and designated an alleged Venezuelan criminal group, the Cartel de los Soles, as a terrorist organisation.

If confirmed, Maduro's ousting would create immediate questions about Venezuela's leadership. Under the Venezuelan constitution, power would transfer to Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who oversees economic policy. However, the situation is complicated by competing claims to legitimacy.

Washington does not recognise Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president, whilst the Venezuelan opposition, spearheaded by Nobel Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, maintains that exiled politician Edmundo González is the rightful leader following last year's disputed election.

Maduro faces narco-terrorism charges in the United States, where authorities have offered a $50mn reward for information leading to his arrest. The Venezuelan authoritarian president, who claimed re-election last year in a vote marred by widespread allegations of fraud, has consistently denied US accusations of running a narco-state.

Despite the military pressure, Maduro said in a New Year's Day interview that Venezuela remained willing to hold "serious talks" with Washington on multiple fronts, including accepting US investment in its oil sector and coordinating on anti-narcotics efforts.