Venezuelan leader Maduro arrives in New York for arraignment
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, landed in New York after being captured in Caracas.
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, awoke early Saturday morning to U.S. special forces seizing them from their compound in the capital, and by day’s end they were in federal custody in New York.
For several hours on Saturday, U.S. airstrikes targeted air defenses and other facilities in Caracas and three other Venezuelan states, sweeping through both Maduro and Flores states and sending them thousands of miles across sea and air to the United States.
The operation marked a dramatic escalation in President Donald Trump’s stance on Venezuela after months of heightened tensions, threats and the seizure of an oil tanker.
Maduro and his wife have been indicted on federal drug and weapons charges and are scheduled to appear at an arraignment in New York City as soon as Monday, according to multiple media reports.
As global repercussions continue, many questions remain unanswered, including the future of U.S.-Venezuela relations and how the South American nation will move forward.
Gunfire in the streets of Latin America’s capital. US military troops attack by helicopter. A foreign leader accused of drug trafficking has been taken to the United States in handcuffs.
The Trump administration’s January 3 detention of President Nicolas Maduro has echoes of the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama that ousted military strongman Manuel Noriega and was the most direct U.S. intervention in Latin America since then.
But experts say that despite some similarities, the two key moments in the long and checkered history of U.S. interventions are different in major ways, and could make it more difficult for the U.S. to achieve its goals this time around, following attacks that have reignited unrest in the region.
Hours after his regime attacked Venezuela and forced the president out of office, President Trump said at a press conference on Saturday that the United States plans to run the country until a change in leadership occurs.
“We will continue to run our country until we can have a safe, proper and wise transition of power,” Trump said.
“We have to be smart, because that’s what we’re here for,” Trump said.
The president did not immediately provide additional details about how the United States plans to manage the sovereign nation.
In an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on the same day, President Trump declined to say whether he would support Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, in the presidential election.
-Francesca Chambers
Mr. Maduro and Mr. Flores arrived in Brooklyn and headed to the Metropolitan Detention Center on the night of January 3.
By then, they had traveled in multiple types of aircraft and huge warships, spanning at least three countries and two time zones.
According to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the couple was taken from their home in Caracas and then loaded onto a helicopter, where the raiding force had to struggle to escape from Venezuelan airspace. General Dan “Razin” Cain.
They were then loaded onto the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima and headed across the Caribbean to the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
They were then transferred to a plane and flew the final leg to New York, landing just before sunset Eastern Time at Stewart Air National Guard Base, about 80 miles north of Manhattan. Once on board, they were loaded onto a helicopter and taken to Manhattan’s West Side Helipad, and finally to a detention center in Brooklyn.
Pope Leo said Sunday he was watching developments in Venezuela “with deep concern” after the United States overthrew Maduro’s government the day before.
The first US Pope Leo called for Venezuela to remain an independent country and respect human rights.
− Reuters
Clear footage, the first released since the Venezuelan leader arrived on U.S. soil Saturday evening, showed President Maduro walking federal agents down a hallway.
The 12-second clip was posted to X by Fox News contributor Paul Mauro and shared by the White House. In the video, Maduro can be seen clutching a bottle of water and wearing black pants, a black hoodie and a hat.
His hands appeared to be bound and three officers walked him down a carpeted hallway with the word “DEA” written on it. He could be heard saying “good night” and “happy new year” before walking out of the video frame.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court’s Constitutional Council on Saturday ordered Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of acting president.
The court’s ruling states that Rodriguez “takes office as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in order to guarantee the continuity of government and the comprehensive defense of the state.”
The judgment further added that the court will consider the matter in order to “determine the legal framework applicable to guarantee the continuity of the state, the operation of the government and the defense of sovereignty in the face of the forced absence of the President of the Republic.”
