Last Update January 4, 2026, 3:52 PM EST
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is expected to face an arraignment in New York City on Sunday after U.S. forces abducted him and his wife in a “large-scale strike” on Saturday morning.
Covered by: Anders Hagstrom and Sophia Compton
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WHAT TO KNOW
- President Donald Trump announced that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife have been captured and flown out of the country as part of “Operation Absolute Resolve.”
- In recent months, the U.S. military has carried out a series of strikes on suspected drug vessels allegedly tied to the Venezuelan regime in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific. The CIA carried out a strike in late December against a dock area inside Venezuela that U.S. officials said was used by drug cartels to load narcotics onto boats.
- Until a permanent leader can be found, the U.S. government will “run” Venezuela, Trump said, “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said. The U.S. government can’t risk someone else taking over the country, he said.
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6 hour(s) ago
PINNED
Maduro allies warned to ‘surrender or play ball’ after US capture
President Donald Trump sent a message to Nicolas Maduro’s allies in Venezuela that they must either “surrender or play ball,” says Fox News senior correspondent Benjamin Hall.
Hall appeared on Fox News on Sunday and noted that Trump said he had a call with Maduro barely a week before Saturday’s strike in Caracas. Trump said he gave Maduro an ultimatum demanding his surrender and that Maduro was “not willing.”
Hall said there remain several top leaders in Venezuela who are aligned with Maduro, and their removal remains a problem for the U.S.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
4 min(s) ago
Vice President Vance pushes back on Venezuela drug claims: ‘Fentanyl isn’t the only drug’
Vice President JD Vance on Sunday rejected claims that Venezuela plays no role in drug trafficking, saying the country remains a major source of cocaine and has also been linked to fentanyl.
In a lengthy post on X, Vance argued that critics focus too narrowly on fentanyl while ignoring cocaine, which he called “a profit center for all of the Latin America cartels.”
“You see a lot [of] claims that Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs because most of the fentanyl comes from elsewhere. I want to address this: First off, fentanyl isn’t the only drug in the world and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela (or at least there was),” Vance wrote. “Second, cocaine, which is the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela, is a profit center for all of the Latin America cartels. If you cut out the money from cocaine (or even reduce it) you substantially weaken the cartels overall. Also, cocaine is bad too!”
Vance acknowledged that “a lot” of the fentanyl entering the U.S. comes from Mexico, but said addressing that flow remains a priority for the Trump administration.
“Third, yes, a lot of fentanyl is coming out of Mexico. That continues to be a focus of our policy in Mexico and is a reason why President Trump shut the border on day one.”
He also addressed criticism surrounding oil, pointing to Venezuela’s expropriation of American oil property roughly two decades ago.
“Fourth, I see a lot of criticism about oil. About 20 years ago, Venezuela expropriated American oil property and until recently used that stolen property to get rich and fund their narcoterrorist activities,” Vance said. “I understand the anxiety over the use of military force, but are we just supposed to allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? Great powers don’t act like that. The United States, thanks to President Trump’s leadership, is a great power again. Everyone should take note.”
Posted by Sophia Compton Share
53 min(s) ago
Satellite images show damage at Venezuelan base after U.S. operation to capture Maduro
Before-and-after satellite images show damage to military buildings at the Fuerte Tiuna complex outside Caracas, Venezuela, following U.S. strikes. (Credit: Satellite image (c) 2026 Vantor via Getty Images)
Satellite images taken Saturday show the scope of the damage caused by the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Before-and-after aerial photos reveal widespread destruction at the Fuerte Tiuna military installation outside Caracas, where Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were ultimately taken into custody.
Several buildings inside the complex appear badly damaged or destroyed, and multiple vehicles were reduced to rubble.
Maduro and Flores were captured at their home within the Fuerte Tiuna complex, according to Venezuelan ruling party leader Nahum Fernández.
Venezuelan officials said people were killed during the operation, though the total number of casualties remains unclear, The Associated Press reported.
Posted by Sophia Compton Share
1 hour(s) ago
Marco Rubio says Cuban regime is ‘propping up’ Maduro, controlling his security
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said the Cuban regime were “the ones propping up” Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, claiming that the dictator’s security operations are controlled by Cuban officials.
“I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro,” Rubio said in an interview with NBC News. “His entire, like, internal security force, his internal security apparatus, is entirely controlled by Cubans.”
Rubio also said Cuban personnel were responsible for guarding Maduro.
“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” he said. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards. In terms of their internal intelligence — who spies on who inside to make sure there are no traitors — those are all Cubans.”
Posted by Sophia Compton Share
1 hour(s) ago
Court releases date for Maduro arraignment in New York
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will be arraigned in federal court at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time in New York City on Monday, federal authorities announced,
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in a daring military operation ordered by President Donald Trump.
Maduro has been charged with four counts – narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine-guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine-guns and destructive devices.
His wife has been charged with three counts, including cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine-guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine-guns and destructive devices.
Fox News’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
2 hour(s) ago
Venezuela still owes US energy companies billions as Trump calls for new investment
As President Donald Trump vows to return U.S. energy investment to Venezuela, the Latin American country remains on the hook for billions of dollars owed to American energy companies following years-old legal battles over oil contracts.
Once a key supplier to global oil markets, Venezuela reshaped its relationship with international energy companies in the mid-2000s, as then-President Hugo Chávez tightened state control over the oil industry.
Between 2004 and 2007, Chávez effectively forced foreign companies to renegotiate their contracts with the government. The new terms sharply reduced the role and profits of private firms while strengthening Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).
The move drove some of the world’s largest oil companies out of the country.
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips exited Venezuela in 2007 and later filed claims against the government in international arbitration courts. Those courts ultimately ruled in favor of the companies, ordering Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips more than $10 billion and ExxonMobil more than $1 billion.
While precise figures are difficult to verify since Venezuela has not published comprehensive debt statistics in years, the International Monetary Fund estimates the country’s economy will total about $82.8 billion in 2025.
Debt levels, however, stand at nearly 200% of that total, meaning Venezuela owes nearly two dollars for every dollar it produces.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Amanda Macias
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
2 hour(s) ago
Kristi Noem delivers Trump’s ultimatum to Venezuela’s vice president following Maduro capture
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says President Donald Trump’s message to Venezuela’s vice president is clear: “You can lead, or you can get out of the way.”
“President Trump is done negotiating. He proved that a couple of days ago, that he is a man of action, that when someone is threatening the United States, he will defend it with every resource that we have, and he’ll continue to do that,” Noem told “Fox News Sunday.”
“His conversations now with the vice president in Venezuela are very matter-of-fact and very clear: ‘You can lead, or you can get out of the way because we’re not going to allow you to continue to subvert our American influence and our need to have a free country like Venezuela to work with rather than to have dictators in place who perpetuate crimes and drug trafficking.’”
Noem’s remarks came on the heels of the Trump administration’s successful operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, a measure that garnered mixed reactions as Democrats and Republicans debated legality concerns and what the future might hold for the South American country.
The operation followed months-long efforts to halt alleged narcoterrorism schemes tied to the country, including strikes on suspected drug boats in Caribbean waters.
Noem cited the strikes as evidence of Trump’s willingness to take action.
“The Coast Guard has been heavily involved in stopping a lot of this shadow fleet of oil that has been trafficking illegally to many of our enemies in other countries,” she continued.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Taylor Penley.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
3 hour(s) ago
NY hopeful Bruce Blakeman slams Gov Hochul’s response to Maduro capture
New York gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman took a shot at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s response to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday.
Blakeman, a Republican, made the comments during a Sunday appearance on Fox News, saying Hochul was wrong to argue the move was an abuse of power.
“I don’t understand Mayor Mamdani or Governor Hochul in calling this an abuse of power. This is the arrest of a drug lord who has preyed on the people of New York as well as the rest of America. And we are a better and safer country and a better safer state with him behind bars.
“I want to congratulate President Trump, Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and Attorney General Bondi. This was masterful. It was surgical. It was strategic. And it was necessary,” Blakeman said.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
4 hour(s) ago
Leonardo DiCaprio accepts award remotely due to travel restrictions after US strike on Venezuela
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio accepted the Desert Palm Achievement Award remotely on Saturday due to travel restrictions resulting from U.S. strikes on Venezuela.
DiCaprio was set to accept the award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival for his role in “One Battle After Another.” He accepted it remotely after being unable to leave St. Barts, where he spent the New Year, according to Variety.
The U.S. military carried out a “large-scale strike” in Venezuela early Saturday morning and took Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and his wife into custody, President Donald Trump confirmed.
“Leonardo DiCaprio is unable to join us in person tonight due to unexpected travel disruptions and restricted airspace,” a spokesperson for the Palm Springs International Film Festival told Variety. “While we will miss celebrating with him in person, we are honored to recognize his exceptional work and lasting contributions to cinema. His talent and dedication to the craft continue to inspire, and we are delighted to celebrate him with the Desert Palm Achievement Award this evening.”
The Palm Springs International Film Festival did not immediately return a request for comment. Variety posted a video of DiCaprio accepting the award on X.
“Movies are still meant to be experienced together in a theater. Right now, that belief matters more than ever,” DiCaprio said. “Original films are harder to make and harder to protect, but movies still matter. Not the content, but cinema, stories made by people meant to be shared in a dark room in a communal experience.”
Palm Springs International Airport announced on X on Saturday that departing flights were at a ground stop.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Hanna Panreck
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
4 hour(s) ago
US oil giants mum after Trump says they’ll spend billions in Venezuela
American energy firms have yet to say whether they plan to return to Venezuela to resurrect an oil industry hollowed out by years of neglect.
Chevron, the only U.S. energy titan operating in Venezuela, said in a statement to Fox News Digital that it was following “relevant laws and regulations.”
“Chevron remains focused on the safety and well-being of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets,” a Chevron spokesperson added.
ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did ConocoPhillips.
President Donald Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday that the U.S. would sell large amounts of Venezuelan oil to other countries after ramping up production.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest oil reserves, but years of underinvestment and crumbling infrastructure have left much of that wealth locked away. Trump said U.S. energy firms could return to the country to unlock that potential.
“We are going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken oil infrastructure and start making money for the country,” he said.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Amanda Macias.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
4 hour(s) ago
Pope Leo reacts to US capture of Venezuela’s Maduro: ‘full of concern’
Pope Leo XIV reacted to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, saying he has “concern” about the situation.
The Vatican released a statement saying Leo “urged all to overcome violence and respect the rule of law and human rights, and invited everyone to join in prayer, entrusting the Venezuelan people to the intercession of Our Lady of Coromoto and of Saints José Gregorio Hernández and Sister Carmen Rendiles.”
“With a heart full of concern I follow the developments,” the pope said. “The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration.”
The pope went on to urge Catholics to pray for the Venezuelan people.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
5 hour(s) ago
Bill Barr: Maduro could get a Noriega-level sentence after capture
Former Attorney General Bill Barr predicted that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro could face a sentence rivaling that of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.
Barr made the prediction during a Sunday morning appearance on Fox News, just a day after the U.S. captured Maduro from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.
Noriega was famously charged with multiple crimes by several countries, including a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking in the U.S. He served 17 years of that sentence before being extradited to France, where he served a 7-year sentence for money laundering. Finally, he was extradited back to Panama for a 60-year sentence on murder and corruption charges.
Noriega died in prison in 2017.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
5 hour(s) ago
GOP lawmaker says Democrats have ‘egg on their face’ after Trump’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., pushed back Saturday against Democratic criticism of President Trump’s capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, arguing the administration carefully weighed risks before acting.
“Democrats have total egg on their face[s] from previous operations saying we’re going to be in these protracted long-war operations that did not take place,” Mast said on “The Big Weekend Show.”
“President Trump is not the protracted war president. He is the person that is going in there with any operations, saying… what is the mission that has to be accomplished?”
Mast contrasted Trump’s approach with past administrations, pointing to limited strikes in Syria during Trump’s first term and efforts to lay the groundwork for a conditions-based withdrawal from Afghanistan.
He also cited a recent targeted operation against Iran, which he said neutralized threats without triggering a broader conflict or violating U.S. war powers.
As Democrats questioned the legality of the operation, other Republican lawmakers defended it Saturday, including Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.
“The legality is very well established,” Crenshaw said, citing the first Bush administration’s capture of former Panamanian strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega and the Obama administration’s actions against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi as precedent.
“You’re going after a person who’s indicted in U.S. courts, and you’re going after someone who we’ve established as an imminent danger to U.S. national security,” Crenshaw added.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Taylor Penley.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
6 hour(s) ago
Video shows ‘perp walk’ for Maduro in New York custody
Video obtained by Fox News shows Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro being processed at a federal facility in New York City, after he and his wife were arrested in a U.S. military operation in Caracas.
Maduro is expected to face arraignment as early as Monday on narcoterrorism charges.
President Donald Trump’s administration highlighted the footage on social media on Sunday, with the White House rapid response account writing simply, “perp walked.”
The daring strike on Venezuela’s capital saw the capture of Maduro and his wife while the U.S. suffered no casualties. One U.S. helicopter was damaged in the operation, but military officials said it remained flyable.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
7 hour(s) ago
Venezuelan dissident outlines risks and opportunities as nation enters post-Maduro era
With Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro extracted from Caracas on Jan. 3, Venezuelans and the world are anxious to learn about the future that awaits.
In a press conference following the Maduro operation on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. is “going to run the country” until a transition can be safely made.
Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former senior Venezuelan diplomat, said a peaceful transition is vital for the 9 million to 10 million Venezuelans who are forcibly displaced and living in exile. Medina, who resigned his diplomatic post in protest against Maduro’s rule in 2017, told Fox News Digital that exiled Venezuelans “have been preparing ourselves to go back to rebuild our nation.”
With support from international organizations like the Organization of American States, Medina said the most important next step for Venezuela is to establish a transitional government that can restore the rule of law and rebuild institutions that have been decimated under the Maduro regime. Setting in place free and fair elections is particularly important, Medina said, noting that it’s “a legal obligation owed to [Venezuela’s] people, because on their occupied territory, it was never equitable or really free.”
Under Maduro, Medina said that “there was no separation of powers, there was no rule of law, there was not even sovereignty.” Instead, Medina said Venezuela had an occupied territory extensively influenced by terrorist and trafficking organizations Hamas, Hezbollah, the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He said these groups were exploiting Venezuelan resources.
David Daoud, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that so long as Venezuela poses no threat to U.S. national security, the “ideal situation” for Venezuela “would be American guidance for determined local action.”
“The best we can shepherd Venezuela to be is a productive member of the family of nations, and that’s something that we can help with a softer touch, without boots on the ground,” Daoud said. “I don’t think we need to be in the business of trying to create Jeffersonian democracies anywhere.”
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
7 hour(s) ago
Zelenskyy reacts to Maduro arrest: US ‘knows what to do next’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weighed in Saturday on the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, telling reporters that Washington “knows what to do next.”
Zelenskyy was speaking to reporters in Kyiv after meeting with national security advisors from member states of the Coalition of the Willing when he was asked about the stunning U.S. military operation that unfolded in the early morning hours in Caracas.
“Regarding Venezuela? How should we respond to this?” Zelenskyy asked in Ukrainian. “Well, what can I say is, if you can do that with dictators, then the United States knows what to do next,” he said with a smile.
U.S. forces took Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their compound, where they were boarded onto the USS Iwo Jima and flown to New York to face federal charges.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the capture of Maduro and his wife, urging the Trump administration to release the “legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his spouse.”
In a superseding indictment released Saturday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Maduro is charged with leading a narco-terrorism conspiracy tied to large-scale cocaine trafficking into the United States, along with related drug importation and weapons offenses.
Flores is also charged in the same indictment with participating in a decades-long cocaine trafficking conspiracy and related firearms offenses.
The charges build on prior indictments from 2020.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
7 hour(s) ago
House Democrat calls Trump’s Maduro capture ‘welcome news’ as left labels it ‘illegal’
At least one House Democrat is praising President Donald Trump’s capture of Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. conducted surprise strikes in Venezuela overnight Saturday night.
“The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who oppressed Venezuela’s people is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule. However, cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., wrote on X.
“Venezuelans deserve the promise of democracy and the rule of law, not a state of endless violence and spiraling disorder. My hope is it offers a passage to true democracy and liberation. This action offers beleaguered Venezuelans a chance to seat their true, democratically elected president, Edmundo González.”
She criticized the GOP administration for apparently failing to notify Congress beforehand, however.
“I’ll demand answers as to why Congress and the American people were bypassed in this effort. The absence of congressional involvement prior to this action risks the continuation of the illegitimate Venezuelan regime. Congress must be properly informed and hold hearings on this invasion. As always, I will work to bring about the promise of a liberated Venezuela,” she wrote.
Wasserman Schultz’s home state of Florida is notably home to a significant number of Venezuelan refugees, as well as refugees from other communist Latin American dictatorships like Cuba.
Her response to the U.S. operation is far different from the majority of her colleagues on the left, however.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
7 hour(s) ago
OPINION: Maduro operation was legal, but Trump makes it complicated
This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley.
It can fairly be said that the most precarious jobs in the world are those of a golf ball collector at a driving range, a mascot at a Chuck E. Cheese, and a Trump administration lawyer.
That was evident at the press conference yesterday as President Trump blew apart the carefully constructed narrative presented earlier for the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Some of us had written that Trump had a winning legal argument by focusing on the operation as the seizure of two indicted individuals in reliance on past judicial rulings, including the decisions in the case of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and retired Air Force Gen. Dan Caine stayed on script and reinforced this narrative. Both repeatedly noted that this was an operation intended to bring two individuals to justice and that law enforcement personnel were part of the extraction team to place them in legal custody. Rubio was, again, particularly effective in emphasizing that Maduro was not the head of state but a criminal dictator who took control after losing democratic elections.
However, while noting the purpose of the capture, Trump proceeded to declare that the United States would engage in nation-building to achieve lasting regime change. He stated that they would be running Venezuela to ensure a friendly government and the repayment of seized U.S. property dating back to the government of Maduro’s mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chávez.
This city is full of self-proclaimed Trump whisperers who rarely score above random selection in their predictions. However, there are certain pronounced elements in Trump’s approach to such matters. First, he is the most transparent president in my lifetime with prolonged (at times excruciatingly long) press conferences and a brutal frankness about his motivations. Second, he is unabashedly and undeniably transactional in most of his dealings. He is not ashamed to state what he wants the country to get out of the deal.
In Venezuela, he wants a stable partner, and he wants oil.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
8 hour(s) ago
Evidence against Maduro will be ‘overwhelming,’ former federal prosecutor says
Former Acting ICE Director Jonathan Fahey joined ‘Fox News Live’ to weigh in on the arrest of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro and the evidence that will be used against him in court.
U.S. forces captured Maduro and flew him to New York City on Sunday, where is his expected to face arraignment on narcoterrorism charges.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
8 hour(s) ago
Democrats furious ahead of emergency caucus meeting on Maduro’s capture
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., joined Fox News to react to Democratic backlash over Nicolas Maduro’scapture and discusses what comes next for Venezuela and U.S. strategy in the region.
Democrats will hold an emergency caucus meeting regarding the Venezuela attack later on Sunday.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
9 hour(s) ago
JD Vance skips Trump’s Venezuela spotlight, but aide says he was ‘deeply involved’ behind the scenes
Vice President JD Vance was not present at President Donald Trump’s news conference announcing the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro because of heightened security and secrecy concerns, according to a spokesperson, despite being closely involved in the planning and execution of the operation.
Trump briefed the press on the mission hours after Maduro was taken into U.S. custody, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs.
Vance publicly praised the operation on X but did not attend the briefing. Vance did meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday to discuss the strikes but was not at Trump’s golf club Friday night when senior Trump officials monitored the mission because the national security team “was concerned a late-night motorcade movement by the Vice President while the operation was getting underway may tip off the Venezuelans.”
“The Vice President joined by secure video conference throughout the night to monitor the operation. He returned to Cincinnati after the operation concluded.”
Due to “increased security concerns,” Trump and Vance are limiting the “frequency and duration” of time they spend together outside the White House, the Vance spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
“Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says,” Vance wrote on X after the operation was made public.
Trump, during his news conference, revealed that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela until a “safe, orderly” transition of power can take place.
“And PSA for everyone saying this was ‘illegal’: Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narco-terrorism. You don’t get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas,” he wrote in a separate post.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
9 hour(s) ago
Maduro-backed TdA gang’s expansion into US cities emerges as key focus of sweeping DOJ indictment
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro will face sweeping criminal charges on U.S. soil following his capture this weekend, according to an unsealed indictment released by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Maduro, who was elected in 2013 and served as Hugo Chavez’s vice president, is facing charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.
“It’s just it was an amazing thing, the amazing job that these people did. There’s nobody else could have done anything like it,” Trump said of the operation.
The unsealed indictment focuses on how Maduro allegedly enriched himself and “political elites” by reportedly partnering with vicious gangs and drug cartels that have established syndicates across the Western Hemisphere, including in the U.S., such as New York. The indictment lists six individuals as defendants, including Maduro, his wife, his son and Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of a vicious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.
The indictment alleges that Maduro “sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.”
Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
9 hour(s) ago
Maduro arrives at Brooklyn detention center after helicopters fly past Statue of Liberty
Deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn late Saturday after being transported by helicopter from the Drug Enforcement Agency in Manhattan after being processed.
The helicopter convoy flew past the Statue of Liberty en-route to Brooklyn, a moment broadcast live as part of the transfer.
Outside the detention center, bystanders gathered behind barricades, some cheering and jeering while waving Venezuelan and American flags and recording the arrival on their phones.
Maduro is expected to remain in federal custody as he prepares to face narcoterrorism and weapons charges in the Southern District of New York.
Posted by Anders Hagstrom Share
Parazonn 