Venezuela’s Maduro in US Custody as Loyalists Vow Defiance
1/4/2026 3:20:00 PM
Venezuela's toppled leader Nicolas Maduro was in a New York detention center on Sunday awaiting drug charges after President Donald Trump ordered an audacious raid to capture him, saying the U.S. would take control of the oil-producing nation.
The image of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed en route to the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
Machado was banned from standing in Venezuela's 2024 election and has said her ally Edmundo Gonzalez, 76, who overwhelmingly won that vote according to the opposition and some international observers, should now take the presidency.
Once one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America, Venezuela's economy nosedived further under Maduro, sending about one in five Venezuelans abroad in one of the world's biggest exoduses.
They were largely jubilant at the exit of Maduro, whose security forces repeatedly crushed opposition protests. The former union leader, bus driver and foreign minister was the dying Hugo Chavez's handpicked successor as president in 2013.
"We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we have a free country," Khaty Yanez, who lives in the Chilean capital Santiago, said.
Trump says Maduro masterminded the flow of drugs into the U.S. and was illegitimately in power due to vote-rigging.
He denies those claims and top officials in Caracas have demanded his release, accusing the U.S. 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 U.S. despite Trump's assertions she was open to working with them.
"We will never again be a colony of any empire."
U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
The image of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed en route to the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
Machado was banned from standing in Venezuela's 2024 election and has said her ally Edmundo Gonzalez, 76, who overwhelmingly won that vote according to the opposition and some international observers, should now take the presidency.
Once one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America, Venezuela's economy nosedived further under Maduro, sending about one in five Venezuelans abroad in one of the world's biggest exoduses.
They were largely jubilant at the exit of Maduro, whose security forces repeatedly crushed opposition protests. The former union leader, bus driver and foreign minister was the dying Hugo Chavez's handpicked successor as president in 2013.
"We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen and that we have a free country," Khaty Yanez, who lives in the Chilean capital Santiago, said.
Trump says Maduro masterminded the flow of drugs into the U.S. and was illegitimately in power due to vote-rigging.
He denies those claims and top officials in Caracas have demanded his release, accusing the U.S. 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 U.S. despite Trump's assertions she was open to working with them.
"We will never again be a colony of any empire."
U.S. 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 U.S. 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.