…ousted leader faces criminal charges
President Donald Trump of the United States, yesterday, confirmed that President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and flown out of the country, saying the US had concluded plans to run Venezuela indefinitely.
Trump, who disclosed that during the successful operation, all Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless, said Maduro was captured in the dead of night.
The President also said no American service members were killed and no US equipment was destroyed during the operation.
Addressing newsmen at his Mar-a-Lago club, Trump said: “We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.
“So, we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition, and it has to be judicious. We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela.”
CNN, which reported that US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, defended the mission, noted that Maduro and his wife were aboard the USS Iwo Jima ship on their way to New York to stand trial.
Trigger-based mission
Quoting Rubio, who defended what has been described as a successful operation, CNN stated that it was “not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on.
“It was a trigger-based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night. We watched and monitored that for a number of days. So it’s just simply not the kind of mission you can call people and say, ‘Hey, we may do this at some point in the next 15 days.
“It’s just not the kind of mission that you can pre-notify because it endangers the mission. It was largely a law enforcement function.”
Aircraft struck
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, who was quoted by CNN, said one US aircraft was struck during the Maduro operation, but remained operational throughout the mission.
He said: “One of our aircraft was hit, but remained flyable, and as the president said earlier today, all of our aircraft came home, and that aircraft remained flyable during the rest of the mission, as the operation unfolded at the compound.
Caine also highlighted the role of intelligence teams in supporting the mission in real time, adding: “Our air and ground intelligence teams provided real-time updates to the ground force, ensuring those forces could safely navigate the complex environment without unnecessary risk.”
He, however, added that even though US forces encountered resistance as they exited the country, US forces would remain in the region following the strike and the President’s capture.
Caine said: “There were multiple self-defense engagements as the force began to withdraw out of Venezuela.”
Caine called the US operation a “testament to the dedication and unwavering commitment to justice and our resolve to hold accountable those who threaten peace and stability,” thanking those who carried out the mission.
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