Nicolas Maduro has been filmed arriving at a detention centre in New York after being captured and flown to the US in an extraordinary operation yesterday morning.
The Venezuelan leader wished onlookers a ‘good night’ and ‘happy new year’ as he entered the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, flanked by two men who appeared to be from the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
An indictment, unsealed upon Maduro’s arrival this morning, accuses him of linking up with ‘some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world’.
He is charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
President Donald Trump told a press conference yesterday that the US would run Venezuela in Maduro’s absence.
The oil-rich South American nation would be administered by a group, he said, while motioning to figures behind him including secretary of state Marco Rubio and defence secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump also pledged to pump ‘billions of dollars’ into exploiting the country’s natural resources.
How did the US capture of Maduro unfold?
The swift operation began early on Saturday morning when explosions were heard at several sites around the capital Caracas.
It followed months of planning by US intelligence forces, who had been monitoring Maduro’s every move.
The green light for US forces to strike was given by President Trump at 3.46am UK time on Saturday (10.46pm EST on Friday.)
Dubbed ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’, the US first cut the power across Caracas.
Speaking at a press conference after the raid, Trump said ‘the lights… were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have’.
More than 150 aircraft – including bombers, fighter jets and reconnaissance planes – took to the skies throughout the night.
Air strikes hit air defence systems and other military targets in Venezuela.
US troops made their way into Caracas and arrived at Maduro’s hideout at 2.01am local time – armed with blowtorches in case they had to cut through the metal doors.
Elite Delta Force soldiers flooded in and caught up to Maduro just as he was trying to get into a safe room.
Trump said: ‘He made it to the door. He was unable to close it. He got bum rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that [room].’
The US president revealed Maduro had been captured in a Truth Social post containing a picture of the leader blindfolded and handcuffed while wearing a grey Nike sweatsuit.
He was extradited on drug trafficking charges and landed in Manhattan by helicopter in New York on Saturday evening.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are now in custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
How has the world reacted to the intervention?
Demonstrations both for and against the capture sprung up around the world, with many Venezuelans celebrating the apparent end of a widely loathed regime.
Maduro, a former bus driver, seized power in 2013 after being picked by his predecessor as president Hugo Chavez.
In 2024, he claimed to have won a presidential election which was widely denounced for failing to meet international integrity standards. The full results have still not been published.
Last month, the UK representative at the UN Security Council called for a ‘peaceful, negotiated transition in Venezuela which ensures that the will of all Venezuelans is respected’.
The UN Security Council is now due to meet on Monday to discuss the US operation in Venezuela.
UN secretary-general Antonio Gutierres said the attack on Maduro had set ‘a dangerous precedent’.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK has ‘long supported a transition of power in Venezuela’ and regards Maduro as an ‘illegitimate president’.
He added: ‘I reiterated my support for international law this morning.
‘The UK government will discuss the evolving situation with US counterparts in the days ahead as we seek a safe and peaceful transition to a legitimate government that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people.’
French president Emmanuel Macron backed a government led by opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez.
However South American leaders were divided about the US military intervention so close to home.
Brazilian president Lula Inacio Lula da Silva, said that the US operation had crossed ‘an unacceptable line’.
He added: ‘Attacking countries in flagrant violation of international law is the first step toward a world of violence, chaos, and instability, where the law of the strongest prevails over multilateralism.’
Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the strikes an ‘assault on the sovereignty’ of Latin America, while Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Cane accused the US of a ‘criminal attack’.
But Argentian President Javier Milei – a ‘favourite’ of President Trump – wrote wrote ‘freedom moves forward’ and ‘long live freedom” on social media.
What next for Venezuela?
Trump used a press conference in Mar-a-Lago to declare that the US will ‘run’ Venezuela.
He suggested troops could be deployed to the region but gave few more details about a US administration would take shape.
Trump also suggested that Venezuela’s vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, had been sworn in as leader and would govern under US direction.
However on Saturday night Rodríguez said that Maduro was Venezuela’s only president.
She condemned the ‘unprecedented act of aggression’ from the US and called for Maduro to be freed.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court has now ruled that she should assume the role of interim president.
Trump appeared to rule out working with the country’s opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, who is widely seen as Maduro’s most credible opponent.
He said: ‘She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.’
What will be crucial to Venezuela’s future will be their vast oil reserves, which are estimated to total more than 300 billion barrels.
Nearly a million barrels a day flowed to China, southern Europe and the US last month.
Trump said: ‘We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure.
‘We’ll be selling large amounts of oil.’
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