WASHINGTON — Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is expected to appear in a U.S. court on drug charges after his capture by American forces, even as President Donald Trump signaled the possibility of further incursions and broader regional action if Washington’s demands on Venezuela’s interim government are not met.
Maduro, 63, is being held in a New York detention center following a Saturday military raid in Caracas that jolted the country’s political order and set off international alarm. Trump administration officials framed the operation as a law-enforcement action tied to U.S. cases first filed in 2020 alleging narco-terrorism conspiracy and support for major trafficking groups. Prosecutors say Maduro directed drug routes, deployed the military to protect shipments and used presidential facilities to move narcotics; the U.S. updated the charges Saturday to include his wife, Cilia Flores. Maduro has denied wrongdoing.
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Trump, speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Florida, said the raid was driven not only by the indictments but also by a surge in Venezuelan migration to the United States and Caracas’ decades-old nationalization of U.S. oil assets. “We’re taking back what they stole,” he said, adding that American oil companies would return to Venezuela and “spend billions of dollars” to rebuild the industry and “take the oil out of the ground.”
He left open the possibility of another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with U.S. efforts to open its oil sector and crack down on drug trafficking. Trump also threatened military action in Colombia and Mexico and said Cuba’s regime “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own. The Colombian and Mexican embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Despite Maduro’s detention, his government remains in place in Caracas, and top officials have projected defiance. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who has assumed interim leadership, has insisted Maduro remains president and rejected Trump’s suggestion that she is prepared to work closely with the United States. Rodriguez, who also serves as oil minister, is viewed as one of the more pragmatic figures in Maduro’s inner circle.
The United States has deemed Maduro an illegitimate dictator since he claimed victory in a 2018 election marred by allegations of massive irregularities. Trump dismissed the idea that opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado would take power, saying she lacks support. Machado, who was barred from the 2024 race, has argued her ally Edmundo Gonzalez holds a mandate to assume the presidency; some international observers say he overwhelmingly won that vote.
The seizure of a foreign head of state has drawn scrutiny globally, with many governments questioning its legality and urging Washington to respect international law. The U.N. Security Council is set to meet today on the U.S. raid, which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called a dangerous precedent. The operation has also triggered questions in Washington, where opposition Democrats say they were misled about the administration’s Venezuela policy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to brief congressional leaders later today.
Venezuela, once among Latin America’s wealthiest countries, has seen its economy implode over the past two decades, spurring one of the world’s largest exoduses, with roughly one in five Venezuelans living abroad. Maduro’s removal after more than a dozen years in power, following the death of Hugo Chávez, could fuel further instability in the nation of 28 million, even as the courts in New York prepare for what could be months of proceedings before any trial.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
