US forces have taken Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to the United States following an illegal military attack on the Latin American country that had resulted in his and his wife’s kidnapping.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken to New York City on Saturday after the aggression that included strikes on targets in Caracas and other parts of Venezuela.
The couple were taken into custody and transported by helicopter and motorcade to federal facilities in Manhattan before Maduro was brought to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to US officials cited by CNN.
The US Justice Department said the Venezuelan head of state was being forcibly held ahead of proceedings at Manhattan federal court, where he was set to face, what it called, “drugs and weapons charges” next week.
The White House, meanwhile, released footage showing Maduro handcuffed and escorted by American forces in New York.
President Trump, speaking earlier in Florida, had said the United States would “run” Venezuela until what he described as a “safe, proper, and judicious” transition of power took place. He said senior members of his administration would oversee “governance” during the interim period and added that Washington would take control of Venezuela’s massive oil reserves, the largest in the world.
The attack and Trump’s remarks have drawn sharp condemnation from Caracas. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, speaking in a live public address on Saturday evening, denounced the attack as an “illegal, illegitimate kidnapping” of the country’s president and first lady and demanded their immediate release.
“Maduro is the only president of Venezuela,” Rodríguez said, describing the US military operation as “barbaric” and denouncing Washington for seeking regime-change in order to seize Venezuela’s energy, mineral, and natural resources. “The masks have fallen,” she said. “They want to enslave us again. We will never be a colony of any empire.”
Rodríguez said the government was prepared to defend the country and its resources, while urging Venezuelans to remain calm. Her remarks came as US officials alleged that Maduro had been “captured” during the operation and flown to New York to face “criminal charges.”
The attack came after months of mounting pressure on Venezuela, marked by an increased American military presence in South America and operations in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean that Washington said were tied to drug trafficking claims, allegations that Maduro had already dismissed as a pretext for targeting the country.
‘Blood for oil’
The attack has triggered several condemnatory official reactions and protests worldwide, including among some American officials, themselves.
“This is blood for oil,” Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts said of the aggression, adding that the kidnapping had “nothing to do with narco-trafficking.”
“This has always been about the fact that Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves.”
Protests were held in several US cities, including Washington, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where demonstrators condemned the military operation and warned against a war driven by oil interests.
In Caracas, residents reported damage from overnight strikes, with debris and signs of explosions visible in several areas.
Democratic lawmakers have, meanwhile, rapped the Trump administration for launching the operation without congressional authorization and demanded briefings on the scope and legal basis of the action.
