This is the moment Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips told his audience 'this morning Venezuela is an American colony'.

On Saturday, US Army Delta Force soldiers captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores and extradited them to New York on drug trafficking charges.

President Donald Trump has since said he is 'designating people' from his cabinet to be in charge in Venezuela,which has a population of 30 million, but gave no further details.

In another surprise, Trump indicated US troops could be deployed, saying Washington is 'not afraid of boots on the ground.'

Maduro's arrest came after US forces struck Caracas amid accusations from Trump that Maduro is the leader of the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) drug trafficking operation and Venezuela has been flooding the US with drugs and gang members.

This morning, Trevor Phillips - whose family are from Venezuela's neighbouring country Guyana - began his Sky News broadcast with his personal take on yesterday's chaos.

Addressing his TV audience, he said: 'Forgive me if I begin 2026 on a personal note. 

'To all intents and purposes, this morning Venezuela is an American colony. I've got mixed feelings about that.

This morning, Trevor Phillips - whose family are from Venezuela's neighbouring country Guyana - began his Sky News broadcast with his personal take on yesterday's chao

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is pictured after his capture in a photo shared by President Donald Trump on his TruthSocial website 

The US President offered little further detail on the logistics of running Venezuela, but suggested the country's vast oil reserves would be used to fund its revival

'Whatever the White House says, I don't think this is really about drugs - it's about oil.'

The 72-year-old news anchor and former Labour politician - who previously served as Chair of the London Assembly and chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission - went on to give 'full disclosure' about his early life in Guyana with his family where he grew up, went to school, and 'learnt to handle a rifle'.

He gave historical context about Venezuela's almost two decade-long claim over more than half of Guyana's territory - the Essequibo region.

'My generation grew up preparing for an invasion, but I don't think anyone really thought we would got to war over impenetrable rainforest, and then, in 2015, American companies hit oil in Guyanese waters,' he said.

Mr Phillips explained how the discovery of 30 billion barrels was 'one of the biggest oil finds in decades'.

He said what 'unsurprisingly' followed was a renewed enthusiasm from Caracas for Guyanese territory - with the map of Venezuela shown to children in school redrawn to include Essequibo.