Venezuelan leader Maduro captured by US forces to face trial in America on narco-terrorism charges

The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country in an extraordinary nighttime operation that was accompanied by a flurry of strikes following months of pressure on the oil-rich South American nation.

The president posted a photo on social media showing Maduro wearing a sweatsuit and a blindfold with the caption: “Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima.” Maduro appeared to be wearing a flotation device around his neck. Next to him was someone wearing a jacket that had a DEA logo.

The stunning American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday. The Trump administration maintains that Maduro is not the legitimate leader of Venezuela and claims he has effectively turned Venezuela into a criminal enterprise at the service of drug traffickers and terrorist groups.

The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and the explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they’d seen and heard. President Trump said in his press conference that no U.S. troops or military equipment was lost.

The U.S. is now deciding next steps for Venezuela, President Donald Trump said Saturday on Fox News, adding, “We’ll be involved in it very much.”

In South Florida, expatriated Venezuelan revelers chanted “liberty” and draped Venezuelan flags over their shoulders to celebrate the U.S. military operation to remove Maduro from their country — a stunning outcome they had longed for but left them wondering what comes next in their troubled homeland.  

Hundreds showed up, and the crowd kept growing as the day went on.

For some Venezuelan natives, the military action — culminating months of stepped-up U.S. pressure — brought their dreams of reuniting with loved ones closer to reality after years of heartbreaking separations.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife would face charges after an indictment in New York. Bondi vowed in a social media post that the couple would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”


(AP Photo Matias Delacroix)