Det kommer nok som en overraskelse for Maduro 🙂
“Venezuela’s Supreme Court rules Rodriguez, whom Trump has indicated he could work with, to become interim leader; UN Security Council to meet Monday over US operation”
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was in a New York jail Saturday, hours after American special forces seized him, as Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, whom US President Donald Trump has indicated he could work with, claimed the operation had a “Zionist tint.”
Maduro’s jailing followed a lightning predawn attack in which US commandos grabbed the Venezuelan president and his wife while airstrikes pounded sites in and around Caracas.
A US government plane carrying Maduro landed at a military base shortly after nightfall, and he was transported by helicopter to New York City, where the couple were to be arraigned on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
The White House posted video on X of Maduro, handcuffed and in sandals, escorted by federal agents through a US Drug Enforcement Administration facility in New York.
“Good night, happy new year,” the 63-year-old leftist is heard saying in English.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was in a New York jail Saturday, hours after American special forces seized him, as Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, whom US President Donald Trump has indicated he could work with, claimed the operation had a “Zionist tint.”
Maduro’s jailing followed a lightning predawn attack in which US commandos grabbed the Venezuelan president and his wife while airstrikes pounded sites in and around Caracas.
A US government plane carrying Maduro landed at a military base shortly after nightfall, and he was transported by helicopter to New York City, where the couple were to be arraigned on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
The White House posted video on X of Maduro, handcuffed and in sandals, escorted by federal agents through a US Drug Enforcement Administration facility in New York.
“Good night, happy new year,” the 63-year-old leftist is heard saying in English.
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The Trump administration captioned the video “perp walked.”
Despite the success of the risky raid, what happens next is highly uncertain.
Trump said he was “designating people” from his cabinet to be in charge in Venezuela but gave no further details.
In another surprise, Trump indicated US troops could be deployed, saying Washington is “not afraid of boots on the ground.”
One aspect that became clearer was Trump’s interest in Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said. “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil.”
Trump has indicated US involvement is likely for the long haul.
“We’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” he said.
Trump dismisses opposition leader
But Trump appeared to reject the possibility of the country’s opposition taking power and said he could work instead with Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez.
US-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, posted on social media that “the hour of freedom has arrived.”
She called for the opposition’s 2024 election candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to “immediately” assume the presidency.
However, Trump, who has openly stated that he felt he deserved to have won the 2025 Nobel Prize, was cold about expectations that Machado could become Venezuela’s new leader, saying she doesn’t have “support or respect” there.
Instead, he touted Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
Rodriguez poured cold water on that, demanding Maduro’s release and vowing to “defend” the country.
Venezuela’s VP: Maduro’s capture has ‘Zionist tint’
On Sunday, Rodriguez claimed that the operation to arrest Maduro had a “Zionist tint.”
“The governments of the world are simply shocked that it is the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela which is the victim and subject of an attack of this nature, which has, without a doubt, a Zionist tint,” said Rodriguez in a televised speech, according to the Mexican public broadcaster.
She added that “the extremists who have promoted armed aggression against our country — history and justice will make them pay.”
There was no evidence to suggest Israel had any role or even knowledge of the American plan to capture Maduro.
Late Saturday, Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered Rodriguez to assume presidential powers “in an acting capacity.”
Blackout and bombing
Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces spent months massing off the coast.
Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters around 2:00 a.m. (0600 GMT). Airstrikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour.
The top US military officer, Gen. Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft took part in the operation, supporting troops who choppered in to seize Maduro with the help of months of intelligence on his daily habits — down to “what he ate” and what pets he kept.
Maduro and his wife “gave up” without a struggle and there was “no loss of US life,” he said.
Venezuelan authorities have yet to release casualty figures. But Trump told the New York Post that “many” Cubans in Maduro’s security detail were killed.
Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and the smell of smoke drifting through the streets.
Shifting justifications
The US and numerous European governments did not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy, saying he stole elections in 2018 and 2024.
Maduro — in power since 2013 after taking over from leftist mentor Hugo Chavez — long accused Trump of seeking regime change in order to control Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Trump has offered several justifications for the aggressive policy toward Venezuela, at times stressing illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and oil.
But he had previously avoided openly calling for regime change.
Several members of Congress quickly questioned the legality of the operation.
Lawmakers from both American political parties have raised reservations and flat-out objections to the US attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling. US Congress has not approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.
Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he had seen no evidence that would justify Trump striking Venezuela without approval from Congress and demanded an immediate briefing by the administration on “its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”
But Trump’s key ally Mike Johnson, top Republican in the House of Representatives, said it was “justified.”
GOP senator warns leaders of Iran and Cuba
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an ally of Trump, told the Axios news site that the leaders of Iran and Cuba should be concerned.
“There is a new sheriff in town. He has put life into the Monroe Doctrine,” Graham said. The doctrine, laid out in 1823 by president James Monroe, articulated the US claim to influence in the Americas.
“If I were the leader of Iran, I would go pray in the mosque,” Graham said.
Graham also said “all options will be on the table” when pressed if there could be further strikes in Venezuela.
At Venezuela’s request, the UN Security Council will meet Monday to discuss the crisis, the Somali presidency of the Council told AFP.
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Jeg har lidt besvær med at tro på at Delcy Rodriguez vil gøre, som Trump/USA siger .
Men jeg kan jo blive klogere 🙂
En svær pille at sluge for demokraterne overalt hvor de måtte befinde sig i verden.