US Captures Venezuela President Maduro, Flys Him To US To Stand Trial For Drug Trafficking

NEW YORK (VINnews) — On Friday night, the US carried out airstrikes across Venezuela, with explosions rocking the capital, Caracas, before dawn. Shortly afterwards, Donald Trump announced that US forces had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, and flown them out of the country.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were dragged from their bedroom by elite US forces during the raid, sources told CNN. Trump said that no US service members were killed, though some were injured when a helicopter was hit during the attack, which was carried out under the cover of darkness.

The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, said they will face trial in New York on charges based on a 2020 indictment alleging their involvement in narco-terrorism.

Trump later posted a picture on his Truth Social platform with the caption “Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima”.

The stunning attack and unprecedented capture of a sitting president follow months of an intense US pressure campaign against Venezuela. Since September, the US navy has amassed a huge fleet off the Venezuelan coast and carried out airstrikes against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific and seized Venezuelan oil tankers. At least 110 people have been killed in the strikes on boats, which human rights groups say could amount to war crimes.

Venezuelan officials have accused the US of trying to gain access to the country’s oil reserves, the largest in the world. In an interview with Fox News hours after the operation, Trump said the US will be “strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry going forward.

The bombardment of Venezuela and the capture of Maduro is a serious and dramatic escalation of the US campaign. The future of Venezuela’s ruling regime remains uncertain.

Since Trump took office for his second term, he has put Maduro squarely in his sights, pursuing a maximum pressure campaign against the Venezuelan regime. He accused Maduro of being behind destabilising activity in the Americas, including drug trafficking and illegal immigration to the US. In July, the US announced a $50m (£37m) bounty on Maduro’s head, accusing him of being one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.

Trump’s administration declared Venezuelan gangs such as Tren de Aragua as terrorist organisations and began carrying out airstrikes against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean sea. Soon, the US began to seize Venezuelan tankers and build up its military presence in the waters surrounding the South American country.

Trump has openly flirted with the idea of regime change in Venezuela. In late November, Trump gave Maduro an ultimatum to relinquish power, offering him safe passage out of the country. Maduro refused the offer, telling supporters in Venezuela that he did not want “a slave’s peace” and accusing the US of wanting control of his country’s oil reserves.

As the Trump administration ratcheted up the pressure, the government in Caracas at times seemed bewildered. Maduro repeatedly said Venezuela did not want war with the US, at one point dancing in front of Venezuelan students to the lyrics, “no war, yes peace” and mimicking Trump’s double-fist pumping dance move. On Thursday, two days before his capture, Maduro said in a televised interview he would welcome US investment in the country’s oil sector.

US President Donald Trump said that the US will indefinitely “run the country” of Venezuela after the capturing President Nicolás Maduro in a large-scale military operation today. Trump claimed the US would do so until a “proper and judicious transition” occurs, but he did not provide further details.

“We can’t take a chance in letting somebody else run and just take over what he left, or left off,” Trump said. He added that the US is thinking over whether Nobel Peace prize winner and prominent opposition leader Maria Machado can take over, but said that for now, the Venezuelan vice-president is in charge of the country.