MADURO COUPLE FLOWN TO NYC; US WILL ‘RUN’ VENEZUELA, SAYS TRUMP

Sun 04 January 2026:

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores were taken off a plane in New York on Saturday after being forcibly transferred from Venezuela following a US operation in Caracas.

According to US media reports, Maduro was flown by helicopter from Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, to Lower Manhattan, before being driven to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Footage on social media appeared to show Flores and a limping Maduro being escorted out of the back of an armored vehicle by federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents at what seemed to be the detention center.

In another video, shared by the White House’s Rapid Response account on US social media company X, Maduro, without Flores, appeared to be walking normally, again flanked by officials in DEA uniforms.

Rapid Response account shared a video on X that appeared to show Maduro. It included the caption: “Perp walked.”

He appears to be walking down a hallway on a carpet that states, “DEA NYD,” and is escorted by three men in DEA jackets.

Footage aired by US media outlets showed Maduro, surrounded by law enforcement officers, arriving at the detention center, where he and Flores are being held ahead of court proceedings expected to begin next week on “narco-terrorism” charges.

US President Donald Trump announced early Saturday that US forces had seized Maduro and Flores from their residence in the Venezuelan capital amid what he described as large-scale strikes. Trump said the US would oversee Venezuela until a “safe, proper, and judicious transition” is secured.

The Trump administration has said Maduro and his wife will face prosecution in a US federal court in New York. Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed a new indictment early Saturday, accusing the pair of trafficking cocaine into the US, along with other crimes.

Critics have warned the operation violates international law, bypasses congressional oversight, and risks further destabilizing Venezuela and the wider region.

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US will ‘run’ Venezuela

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Washington would oversee Venezuela’s government during an interim period following the capture of the South American nation’s president, Nicolas Maduro.

“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump told a news conference in the US state of Florida, flanked by senior Cabinet officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The US wants peace, liberty, and justice for the “great people” of Venezuela, he added.

When asked what specific process the US will use to oversee Venezuela in the days ahead, Trump said, “We’re designating people right now” and added, “We’re going to let you know who those people are.”

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez assumed authority following Maduro’s capture on Saturday. Trump said Secretary of State Rubio had already spoken with her.

“She was sworn in as president just a little while ago. She had a long conversation with Marco, and she said, ‘We’ll do whatever you need.’ I think she was quite gracious, but she really doesn’t have a choice,” Trump said.

On Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Trump said it would be “very tough” for her to be the leader.

“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country, she’s a very nice woman but she doesn’t have the respect,” he said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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