New York, MINA – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were taken off a plane in New York on Saturday, following their kidnap by US forces in a late-night operation in Caracas. US media reports indicate they are expected to be transferred by helicopter to a detention facility near New York City.
Footage broadcast by American outlets showed Maduro surrounded by law enforcement officers as he disembarked at Stewart Air National Guard Base, while Flores was not clearly visible.
US President Donald Trump announced the operation earlier on Saturday, stating that US forces had captured and flown Maduro and his wife out of Venezuela. Trump declared that the United States would oversee Venezuela’s governance until a “safe, proper, and judicious transition” could be secured.
The arrests follow a newly unsealed indictment from federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, which accuses the Maduros of trafficking “tons of cocaine” into the United States, among other alleged crimes.
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The operation has drawn sharp criticism from legal and political observers, who warn that it violates international law, bypasses congressional authorization and risks escalating instability in Venezuela and across the region.[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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