NEW YORK: Venezuela's toppled leader Nicolas Maduro was in a New York detention centre on Sunday awaiting drug charges after President Donald Trump ordered an audacious raid to capture him, saying the US would take control of the oil-producing nation. The image of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed en route to the US has stunned Venezuelans and was Washington's most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago. Maduro, who wished his captors a "Happy New Year" on arrival, is due to appear in a Manhattan court on Monday. With memories of painful US interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, many world leaders were staggered at Trump's move, even though Maduro's standing was low given his autocratic rule and substantial evidence of vote-rigging.
At home, Maduro allies were still in charge and have denounced his "kidnapping" as part of an imperialist oil grab. Streets were far quieter than usual as Venezuelans anxiously discussed what would come next. Some stocked up on essentials but many simply hunkered indoors. "I've just taken the dog out and it feels like an abandoned city, people are shut inside," said Alejandra Palencia, 35, a psychologist in the city of Maracay. "There is fear and uncertainty."
Trump said the US would for now manage the South American nation of about 30 million people plus its oil reserves, the largest in the world. But he gave few details of how. "We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he told a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, hailing the extraordinary extraction of Maduro just as he was at the door of a safe room. To the disappointment of Venezuela's opposition and diaspora, Trump has given short shrift to the idea of 58-year-old opposition leader Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado taking over, saying she lacked support.
Trump says Maduro masterminded the flow of drugs into the US and was illegitimately in power due to vote-rigging. He denies those claims and top officials in Caracas have demanded his release, accusing the US of an imperial lust for Venezuela's oil and mineral riches. "There is only one president in Venezuela, and his name is Nicolas Maduro," said Delcy Rodriguez, who took over Venezuela's interim presidency, in a defiant message to the US despite Trump's assertions she was open to working with them. "We will never again be a colony of any empire."
US Special Forces swooped in on helicopters to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, under darkness in the early hours of Saturday after strikes on military installations in Caracas and elsewhere. While many Western nations oppose Maduro and say he stole the 2024 election, there were many calls for the US to respect international law and resolve the crisis diplomatically. There were also questions over the legality of seizing a foreign head of state. Democrats said they were misled at recent Congress briefings and demanded a plan for what is to follow.
Trump said major US oil companies would move back into Venezuela and refurbish badly degraded oil infrastructure, a process experts said could take years. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground," he added. A plane carrying Maduro landed near New York City on Saturday night, and he was helicoptered to the city before being taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. In a hallway at the US Drug Enforcement Administration, he wished those around him a "goodnight, Happy New Year". Indicted in 2020 on charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, Maduro is expected to make an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday.
The UN Security Council planned to meet on Monday to discuss the US move, which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as "a dangerous precedent." Russia and China, both major backers of Venezuela, criticised the US "China firmly opposes such hegemonic behavior by the US," China's foreign ministry said. Pope Leo said he was following events with a "soul full of concern" and called for Venezuela to stay independent and respectful of rights. "The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration," the pope told pilgrims in St Peter's Square during his weekly Sunday prayer. — Reuters
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