Venezuela’s ousted dictator, Nicolás Maduro, was being held in a New York detention center Sunday as he awaited court proceedings on U.S. drug charges, a day after President Donald Trump ordered a raid to capture him and said the United States would take control of the oil-producing nation.
Images of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed during his transfer to the United States stunned many Venezuelans and drew international criticism. The operation was Washington’s most contentious intervention in Latin America since the U.S. invasion of Panama 37 years ago.
Maduro was scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Monday.
Trump said the United States would temporarily manage Venezuela, a nation of about 30 million people, along with its oil reserves, which he described as the largest in the world. He provided few details.
“We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort. He said Maduro was seized as he approached the door of a safe room.
Maduro’s allies remained in control in Caracas and denounced his capture as a kidnapping. Trump played down the idea of opposition leader María Corina Machado assuming power, saying she lacked support.
Machado, who was barred from running in Venezuela’s 2024 election, has said her ally Edmundo González should take office, citing opposition claims and some international observers who said he won the vote.
Diaspora reaction
Once among Latin America’s wealthiest countries, Venezuela’s economy deteriorated further under Maduro, contributing to an exodus that has sent about one in five Venezuelans abroad.
Many Venezuelans living overseas celebrated Maduro’s removal. His security forces have repeatedly crushed opposition demonstrations. Maduro, a former union leader and bus driver, succeeded Hugo Chávez as president in 2013.
“We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we have a free country,” said Khaty Yanez, a Venezuelan living in Santiago, Chile.
Trump has accused Maduro of directing the flow of drugs into the United States and maintaining power through election fraud.
Maduro has denied the allegations. Venezuelan officials demanded his release and accused Washington of seeking control over Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources.
Succession dispute
“There is only one president in Venezuela, and his name is Nicolás Maduro,” Delcy Rodríguez said in a statement. Rodríguez has assumed interim presidential powers under a Venezuelan court order, despite Trump’s comments suggesting she might work with U.S. authorities.
U.S. special forces seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, early Saturday after strikes on military installations in Caracas and elsewhere, according to U.S. officials.
While many Western governments oppose Maduro and have questioned the legitimacy of Venezuela’s elections, several leaders called for restraint, respect for international law and a diplomatic resolution.
In the United States, some lawmakers questioned the legality of capturing the head of state of a foreign government. Democrats said they were misled during congressional briefings and demanded details about what would follow.
Trump said major U.S. oil companies would return to Venezuela and begin restoring deteriorated oil infrastructure, a process experts said could take years.
“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” Trump said.
A plane carrying Maduro arrived near New York City late Saturday. He was flown by helicopter to the city and taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
U.S. authorities released images showing Maduro being led through a hallway at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s offices in New York, where he was heard wishing a “happy New Year.”
Indicted in 2020 on federal charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, Maduro is expected to make an initial appearance Monday in Manhattan federal court.
Uncertainty and international response
It remained unclear how Trump planned to oversee Venezuela, where a court ordered Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, to assume interim presidential powers.
In Venezuela, residents rushed to buy groceries and fuel as uncertainty spread. Maduro opponents were cautious, while some supporters held small rallies. Soldiers patrolled parts of the country.
The U.N. Security Council planned to meet Monday to discuss the U.S. action, which U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called a “dangerous precedent.” Russia and China, both key Maduro allies, criticized the United States.
China’s foreign ministry said it opposed what it called U.S. hegemonic behavior and said the operation violated Venezuela’s sovereignty.
Trump’s comments about a potentially open-ended U.S. presence in Venezuela drew comparisons to past U.S. interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which ended with American withdrawals after years of war and thousands of U.S. casualties.
Trump said a U.S. occupation “won’t cost us a penny,” arguing the United States would be reimbursed through Venezuelan oil revenues.
The episode also injected new political tension into Washington. Democrats criticized Trump’s foreign policy approach ahead of November’s midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. Trump also risked alienating some supporters who back his “America First” agenda and oppose foreign interventions.
Material from Reuters and the Associated Press was used in this story.
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