U.S. Forces Capture Venezuela’s Maduro and Fly Him to New York to Face Charges

U.S. forces struck targets in and around Caracas early Saturday and seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, flying them out of the country to face federal drug charges in New York. President Donald Trump announced the operation at a news conference, saying the United States would “run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Trump gave final approval at 10:46 p.m. Eastern on Friday. The mission, named Operation Absolute Resolve, involved more than 150 aircraft launched from 20 bases, according to CBS News. Caine said U.S. forces disabled Venezuela’s air defenses and that helicopters came under fire at the compound but remained operable. Maduro and Flores were taken at their home in Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex. Two U.S. officials told CBS that several service members suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and other injuries; there were no American deaths. NBC News reported that officials said the operation had been planned for months.

The couple were taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima and then flown to Stewart Airport north of New York City, CBS reported. Maduro arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn that evening. A superseding indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York names six defendants, including Maduro, Flores and his son, and alleges a scheme to import “thousands of tons” of cocaine into the United States, CBS said. NBC listed the charges as narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. They could be arraigned as soon as Monday, CBS reported, citing sources.

Trump gave few details of how the United States would oversee Venezuela and said a group of officials would be named. He said large American oil companies would spend “billions of dollars” to fix the country’s oil infrastructure, and argued that oil revenue would cover the cost of U.S. involvement, NBC reported. He said the military was ready for a second, “much larger” strike if needed and that “we’re not afraid of boots on the ground.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Maduro had been offered terms to leave and had “multiple opportunities to avoid this,” and that Congress was not notified in advance because the mission was not the kind that allows it, according to CBS.

Venezuela’s government has taken a different line. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, whom Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered to assume the presidency, called the capture an “illegal and illegitimate kidnapping” on state television and demanded Maduro’s release, saying he remains the country’s “only president,” CBS and NBC reported. Trump said she had been sworn in and had a “gracious” call with Rubio. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, said, “Venezuelans, the hour of freedom has arrived.”

Reaction in Washington split along familiar lines but not entirely. House Speaker Mike Johnson called it a “decisive and justified operation,” NBC reported. Rep. Rick Crawford, a Republican, described it as a law enforcement action, comparable to a past Obama-era capture, according to CBS. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called it “reckless” and, with House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, demanded a Gang of Eight briefing and called the plan to run Venezuela “unacceptable.” Sen. Tim Kaine called it “an illegal war” and planned a war powers vote. Some Republicans also pressed for more information: Sen. Susan Collins said Congress should have been informed sooner, CBS reported.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” and called the action a dangerous precedent, and an emergency Security Council meeting was being planned at the request of Venezuela and Colombia, with Russia’s backing, CBS reported. Trump and Rubio also hinted that Cuba could become a next focus, according to the same report.