Trump administration officials told lawmakers Monday that then-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were injured after hitting their heads while fleeing U.S. forces attempting to arrest them, according to sources familiar with the classified briefing.
White House officials said Maduro and Flores ran inside their compound and tried to hide behind a heavy steel door, but the door frame was low, and they struck their heads as they attempted to escape, CNN reported Tuesday.
Delta Force operators apprehended the couple and provided first aid after they were extracted from the compound, the sources said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe briefed top lawmakers for more than two hours Monday evening, according to sources.
Maduro and Flores appeared in court Monday with visible injuries, and Flores's attorney told the judge she "sustained significant injuries" during her abduction.
"Additionally, there's a belief that she may have a fracture or severe bruising on her ribs," the attorney said, requesting an X-ray and a full physical evaluation to ensure her health going forward.
Reporters in the courtroom said Flores swayed and dipped her head at times during the hearing, while Maduro struggled to sit down and stand up at points.
Courtroom sketches of Flores showed her with bandages on her head.
Administration officials who briefed lawmakers described Flores' head injury as minor, sources said.
Officials also told lawmakers that some Delta Force operators were injured during the operation in a large firefight with a Cuban quick-reaction force stationed near Maduro's compound.
The troops were hit by bullets and shrapnel, but their injuries were not life-threatening and they are expected to fully recover, the officials said, according to the sources.
Hegseth said Monday that nearly 200 U.S. personnel were on the ground in Caracas during the operation.
During the briefing, administration officials did not provide a firm estimate of how many Venezuelans or Cubans were killed, sources said.
Cuba's government said Monday that 32 of its military and police officers were killed. President Donald Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller, told CNN's Jake Tapper that the number was likely higher, describing the events as a "raging gunfire battle."
"The overwhelming share of casualties and fatalities that were inflicted were against the Cuban guard that had exerted control over the people of Venezuela," Miller said.
The officials told lawmakers Maduro's capture was not a regime change operation, arguing the Venezuelan government remains largely intact and is now led by his deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, sources familiar with the briefing said.
Rubio told lawmakers the administration views Rodriguez as more pragmatic than Maduro and as someone the United States can work with, the sources said.
The officials also said opposition leader Maria Corina Machado would be unable to exert control over the regime's security forces.
The administration's policy approach toward Rodriguez was informed by a classified CIA analysis examining the impact of Maduro no longer being president and the near-term implications of his potential removal, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The analysis was commissioned by senior policymakers, and the CIA is expected to continue providing similar assessments about Venezuela's leadership situation, multiple sources said.
Rubio has been the administration's main point of contact with Rodriguez. Trump told NBC News on Monday that Rubio "speaks to her fluently in Spanish" and that their "relationship has been very strong."
Briefers told lawmakers they had been in touch for months with Delcy Rodriguez and her brother Jorge Rodriguez, who is president of Venezuela's national assembly, but described the contacts as discussions aimed at prompting behavior change by the regime — not as requests for help removing Maduro.
Delcy Rodriguez also serves as Venezuela's oil minister, and the administration expects her to work with the U.S. on rebuilding Venezuela's oil infrastructure and allowing American companies to operate there in the future, the sources said.
However, officials said there is no formal agreement in place with Delcy Rodriguez, only an expectation that U.S. pressure, including an armada of warships in the Caribbean, will provide leverage to influence her decisions.
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