Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been detained in a New York prison just hours after US special forces captured and removed him from Venezuela following a major assault on Caracas. President Donald Trump stated that Venezuela would be effectively administered by the United States.
The announcement from the US president came after a swift pre-dawn attack on Saturday (3 Jan), during which commandos arrested Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, amid multiple airstrikes on various locations in and around Caracas.
Maduro and his wife were taken onto a ship and then a plane, arriving at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, approximately 97 kilometers north of Manhattan, before being transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn.Both are to be brought before court facing charges of drug trafficking and weapons offenses.
The White House posted a video on X showing Maduro handcuffed and wearing sandals, escorted by federal agents through the United States Drug Enforcement Administration offices in New York. The 63-year-old Maduro said in English, "Good night, Happy New Year."
Although the risky raid succeeded, what follows remains highly uncertain. Trump said he is "appointing individuals" from his cabinet to take charge in Venezuela but did not provide further details.
In a surprising development, Trump indicated the possibility of deploying US forces, stating that the US "is not afraid to send troops on the ground," while seeming to dismiss the prospect of Venezuelan opposition seizing power. He suggested he might work with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez instead.
One clear interest for Trump is Venezuela's vast oil reserves. He said, "We will allow major US oil companies to enter, investing billions of dollars to repair heavily damaged infrastructure." "We will sell oil in large volumes."
Maria Corina Machado, a US-backed opposition leader and last year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, posted on social media, "The hour of freedom has arrived." She called for opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia to assume the presidency "immediately."
However, Trump took a surprisingly cold stance toward expectations that Machado would become Venezuela's new leader, saying she lacked "support or respect" there. Instead, he praised Rodríguez, saying she is "basically willing to do whatever we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again." Rodríguez called for Maduro's release and pledged to "protect" the country.
On Saturday night, Venezuela's Supreme Court ordered Rodríguez to assume the presidency "as acting president," reflecting the confusion. Trump indicated that US involvement is likely to continue long-term, and Rodríguez said, "We will remain until a proper transition can occur."
China, Venezuela's ally, "strongly condemned" the US operation, while France warned that "solutions cannot be imposed from abroad." United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was "deeply concerned that international law has not been respected."
The UN Security Council presidency from Somalia informed AFP that, at Venezuela's request, the Security Council will meet on Monday to discuss the crisis.
Venezuelans prepared for the assault as US forces spent months mobilizing offshore. Residents of Caracas faced explosions and military helicopter noise around 2:00 a.m. local time on Saturday as airstrikes targeted key military and air bases, among other sites, for nearly an hour.
General Dan Kinn, the US Supreme Commander, said the operation named "Absolute Resolve" required months of planning and live rehearsals. Various forces awaited suitable weather, with 150 aircraft participating to support helicopter-borne troops who captured Maduro, aided by months of intelligence on his daily routines, from "what he eats" to his pets. He stated that Maduro and his wife "surrendered" without resistance and "no American soldiers were killed."
Venezuelan authorities have not disclosed casualty figures, but Trump told the New York Post that "many" Cubans in Maduro's security forces died.
Within hours after the operation, Caracas fell silent, with police stationed outside public buildings and smoke lingering in the streets.
The US and several European governments do not recognize Maduro's legitimacy, accusing him of rigging the 2018 and 2024 elections. Maduro, in power since 2013 after succeeding leftist advisor Hugo Chávez, has long accused Trump of attempting to change the regime to control Venezuela's oil resources.
Trump has cited various reasons for his aggressive Venezuela policy, sometimes emphasizing illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and oil, but he had previously avoided openly calling for regime change.
Several members of Congress questioned the legality of the swift operation, but Mike Johnson, a key Trump ally and House Republican leader, said it was "reasonable."