WHITE HOUSE, 3rd January-US President Donald Trump has announced the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Adela Flores both of whom have been flown out of the country.
According to a statement posted by President Trump and the White House on the official X account, this followed “a successful large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader by the United States of America,” in the capital of Caracas and military facilities earlier today.
The military operations were jointly undertaken by the US Law Enforcement. Trump said that he will divulge more details at his private residence, Mar-a-Lago, in a Florida news conference scheduled for 11am (1600 GMT).
A state of national emergency has been declared in the South American country, with authorities calling for “hastened proof of their President Maduro and the First Lady’s whereabouts and condemnation of the military assault on their country.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that the embattled leader will be arraigned in US courts to face criminal charges.
Affirming this position in her official X post, US Attorney General Pamela Bondi says that President Maduro and his spouse, Flores, will face multiple charges, such as narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States, at the Southern District of New York.
Bondi stressed: “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
There has been a heightened diplomatic tiff between Washington and Caracas with the former accusing President Maduro of engaging in drug trafficking.
During Christmas, Trump revealed that US forces, seized two oil tankers belonging to Venezuela, with a third being pursued through its waters.
On Thursday, Maduro said he was open to negotiating a deal with the US to address the drug trafficking menace.
In US history, Maduro’s capture brings to five the number of Presidents captured Emilio Aguinaldo of the Philippines (1901), Manuel Noriega (Panama-1990), Saddam Hussein (Iraq -2003), and Jean Bertrand -Aristide of Haiti (2004).
romondi99@theeyeswatchmedia.co.ke
