The US may want many of its foes gone from power. It doesn't usually send in the military and physically remove them.
Venezuela's abrupt awakening took two forms.
Its residents were woken abruptly to the sound of deafening booms: the sound of its capital Caracas under attack from US strikes targeting military infrastructure.
Its government has now woken up from any illusion that US military intervention or regime change was just a distant threat.
US President Donald Trump has announced its leader, Nicolás Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country. He now faces weapons and drugs charges. His exact whereabouts is unknown and his colleagues have demanded proof he is still alive.
