Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been captured by US troops and flown to New York, where Maduro is now being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. The plane carrying the couple landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, on Saturday evening, and Maduro was escorted off by FBI agents before being taken by helicopter to Manhattan.
Heavy security awaited Maduro as he was transferred to the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration and then to the federal facility in Brooklyn, which has previously held high-profile prisoners including Ghislaine Maxwell and rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs. A video posted by the White House's rapid response account showed Maduro handcuffed and escorted by agents, wearing a black hooded top and hat, as he walked down a hallway with a 'DEA NYD' carpet.
US President Donald Trump announced that the US would 'run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition' and that the US would be 'very strongly involved' in Venezuela's oil industry. Trump stated that his administration had not spoken to exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado, adding that she 'does not have the support in Venezuela'.
Venezuela's supreme court has ordered Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of acting president in Maduro's absence. The UN Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting on Monday, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressing deep alarm and considering the US intervention 'a dangerous precedent'.
The New York Times reported that at least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in Saturday's attack, according to a senior Venezuelan official. Meanwhile, hundreds of Venezuelans in Doral, South Florida, gathered to celebrate the capture, waving flags and chanting 'liberty', with some expressing hope of reuniting with family members.
