Web Desk: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will be transferred to the United States to face criminal charges already filed. Rubio said that no further US action is expected in Venezuela after Maduro’s arrest. The Trump administration has long accused Maduro of drug trafficking and collaboration with terrorist organisations, which Maduro has consistently denied.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been taken into US custody and taken out of the country. The operation was carried out as a result of a major US military operation, which drew immediate reactions and concern from around the world.
US officials told CBS News that the operation was carried out by the US military’s elite special forces, Delta Force. The operation was carried out after months of US military preparations in the region, which included the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and other warships deployed in the Caribbean.
In the weeks leading up to the operation, US forces seized two oil tankers near Venezuela, attacked dozens of boats they said were carrying drugs and targeted port facilities where Trump said boats were being prepared for drug shipments.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that Maduro and his wife would soon be arraigned in U.S. courts. She said Maduro faces multiple federal charges, including drug-related terrorism and possession of weapons against the United States.
Bondi said the case would be tried in the Southern District of New York, the same court where Maduro was indicted in 2020. Although Maduro has already been indicted in a US court, his wife, Celia Flores, has not been charged. It is not clear whether the prosecution will rely on old charges or include new ones.
The global response was immediate. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaia Callas, said she had spoken to Foreign Minister Rubio and the EU ambassador in Caracas. She said the EU was closely monitoring the situation and reiterated its position that Maduro has no legal standing. She called on all parties to exercise restraint and stressed that international law and the UN Charter must be respected, while prioritising the safety of European citizens in Venezuela.
Russia and Iran strongly condemned the US action. According to AFP, Iranian officials called it a clear violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. According to Reuters, the Russian Foreign Ministry called it an unjustified military aggression and called for a reduction in tensions, dialogue and an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
Trump’s announcement came exactly 35 years after US forces captured Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega, another Latin American leader accused of drug trafficking. Noriega, once a US ally and intelligence informant, later fell out of favour in Washington. Panama was invaded in 1989 on the orders of President George H.W. Bush, after which Noriega surrendered to US authorities in January 1990. He was sentenced in the US, later transferred to France and then to Panama, where he served further sentences.
Senator Mike Lee, a Democrat from Utah, said he spoke directly with Secretary of State Rubio on Saturday morning, who told him that Maduro had been arrested for trial in the United States. According to Lee, the overnight military operation was intended only to execute an arrest warrant and protect the personnel involved.
The US government has been trying to capture Maduro for several years. In March 2020, US prosecutors charged Maduro and other Venezuelan officials with drug-related terrorism. Last year, the Trump administration increased the reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture to $50 million.
According to federal prosecutors, Maduro smuggled cocaine and weapons into the United States in collaboration with the Colombian guerrilla organisation FARC. The Justice Department also claims that Maduro led the so-called “Cartel of the Sons,” which the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organisation. However, some experts dispute this claim and say that it is not an organised cartel but rather an obscure network of corrupt government officials.
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