Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured by US troops and flown to New York on Saturday, where he was taken to a federal detention centre in Brooklyn. Images showed Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, being escorted off a plane at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh before being transferred by helicopter to Manhattan. Heavy security was present as he was taken to the offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration and then to the Metropolitan Detention Center, the same facility that has held figures such as Ghislaine Maxwell.
President Donald Trump announced during a press conference that the US would temporarily run Venezuela until a safe transition could occur. He said the US would be heavily involved in Venezuela's oil industry, stating, "We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it." Trump also remarked that exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado lacks support in Venezuela and would not return to lead the country.
Venezuela's supreme court ordered Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of acting president. The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for Monday, and UN Secretary General António Guterres expressed deep alarm, describing the US intervention as a dangerous precedent. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the operation meant drugs and stolen oil would be stopped and criminals would not be sent to the United States.
At least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in the attack, according to a senior Venezuelan official. Meanwhile, hundreds of Venezuelans in Doral, Florida, celebrated Maduro's capture, waving flags and chanting for liberty. David Nuñez, who fled political persecution six years ago, told the Associated Press, "The most important thing is that we’re going to be able to be with our families soon. I haven’t seen my daughters in six years, so I have a lot of mixed feelings."
