US captures President Maduro in overnight raid, explosions occur in Caracas
Explosions occurred in Caracas and neighboring states as US forces occupied Maduro, Venezuela, amid claims of military invasion.
When the United States launched a nighttime military offensive against Venezuela on the morning of Saturday, January 3, not only was the country’s leader Nicolás Maduro captured, but so was his wife, Cilia Flores.
Flores, 69, and her husband were charged in the Southern District of New York. However, US Attorney General Pam Bondi initially did not share the charges against Venezuela’s former first lady. According to an X post shared by Bondi, President Maduro is charged with “narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.”
Mr. Maduro and Mr. Flores are scheduled to arrive at New York Stewart International Airport in Orange County, New York, about 80 minutes north of Manhattan, on Saturday, January 3, according to CBS News and MS Now. The couple was captured in Caracas, Venezuela, and taken by helicopter to the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima. President Donald Trump posted an image of Maduro aboard a warship on Truth Social.
“We’re going to run our country until we can have a safe, proper and wise transition of power,” Trump said at a Saturday news conference after the airstrike.
With all eyes on Venezuela, here’s what you need to know about the country’s former first lady.
Who is Cilia Flores?
Mr. Flores is a Venezuelan lawyer and politician. She has been a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly since 2015 and served as speaker of her home state of Cogedes from 2006 to 2011. She also previously served as Venezuela’s attorney general from 2012 to 2013.
Throughout his legal career, Flores earned a reputation as a tough lawyer, especially after leading the defense team of former Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and helping secure his release in 1994 after a 1992 coup attempt, according to Reuters.
Maduro defeated Enrique Capriles in the 2013 presidential election, and Flores became Venezuela’s first lady.
“She has a fierce personality. She is exactly the same as I saw her in Congress,” President Maduro said of his wife at a rally during the campaign, according to Reuters.
How did Cilia Flores find fame in Venezuela?
According to Reuters, being Maduro’s wife was not the only thing that made Ms. Flores famous in Venezuela; the law graduate from the University of Santa Maria in Caracas gained attention in 1994 when she defended Mr. Chávez and helped secure his release.
Four years after Chávez’s release, Flores helped him win the 1998 Venezuelan presidential election. Chavez served as president of Venezuela for 14 years until his death in March 2013.
After Chavez’s presidential victory, Flores became “the most powerful woman in Venezuelan politics,” according to Reuters. The former president nominated Flores to be attorney general in 2012.
After Chávez died of cancer, Flores became the government’s defender at key moments, including defending it from opposition accusations of a possible power vacuum.
“She is an excellent official who carried out the president’s instructions to the letter,” a senior Congress official who worked closely with Flores told Reuters in 2013.
The official predicted that Flores would be a “strong arm” for her newly elected husband. The source added, “She has authority and command ability, and is a woman who acts quietly.”
Why was Cilia Flores captured?
It was initially unclear what charges Flores would face in the United States. However, in Bondi’s X post, she wrote that Maduro and his wife “will soon face the full wrath of the American judiciary on American soil and in American courts.”
In a social media post, Bondi also referred to Maduro and Flores as “two alleged international drug traffickers.”
The allegations against Mr. Flores were revealed in a private indictment shared by Mr. Bondi, in which the U.S. government said its “massive drug trafficking concentrated power and wealth in the hands of Maduro Moroz’s family, including his wife, the so-called First Lady of Venezuela.” Maduro’s son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, is also named as a defendant in the indictment.
Flores, who married Maduro “in or about 2013,” is charged with conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of a machine gun or destructive device, and conspiracy to possess a machine gun or destructive device, according to the indictment.
Contributed by: Reuters
Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Please contact JLimehouse@gannett.com..
