President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores on the day of his inauguration for a third six-year term in Caracas on January 10, 2025.—Picture by Leonardo Fernandez Viloria, REUTERS
* Maduro and the First Lady Cilia Flores, were taken from the capital Caracas to the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn to face drug trafficking-related charges
* He has previously denied being the leader of a drug cartel as Venezuela has announced a state of national emergency and denounces the “military aggression
* US oil companies would also fix Venezuela’s “broken infrastructure” and “start making money for the country”, Trump says
* Trump’s comments may signal to some that he isn’t serious about shoring up Venezuela for a democratic or just future, but rather to plunder its oil wealth
BBC News
After his arrest in Venezuela, Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro was flown out of Caracas on a US helicopter and taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima, where he appeared in a photograph shared by US President Donald Trump on Truth Social.
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After arriving in New York, he was taken to the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and was to be transferred from the DEA office in Manhattan to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre.
The Venezuelan president is expected to appear in court on drugs and weapons charges, which could happen as soon as tomorrow. He has previously denied being the leader of a drug cartel.
Meanwhile, Trump said on Saturday that the US was going “to run the country until such time as we can do a safe and proper and judicious transition”. It is unclear exactly how the US plans to run Venezuela or who will be involved, but Trump said it would be a “group” effort.
He added that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been talking to Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s vice-president, who has since been named interim president by Venezuela’s Supreme Court.
Trump said she had expressed her willingness to do “whatever the US asks” — but Rodríguez later appeared on state television to demand Maduro’s release, saying he was the “only president”.
Venezuela’s Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez
Trump also said he had not spoken to Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado, who he characterised as having neither the support nor the respect within Venezuela to become its leader.
Machado had earlier called for Edmundo González to assume power.
She had rallied support for González in the 2024 presidential election and vote tallies released by her party suggest he won by a landslide.
Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado
There has been a build up of pressure on the Venezuelan government since Trump began his second term in office last January. First, the Trump administration doubled the reward it offered for information leading to the capture of Maduro.
In September, US forces began targeting vessels it accused of carrying drugs from South America to the US. There have been more than 30 strikes on such vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific since then, killing more than 110 people.
The Trump administration blames Maduro for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants entering the US and without providing evidence, Trump accused Maduro of “emptying his prisons and insane asylums” and “forcing” its inmates to migrate to the US.
The US president also claims the Venezuelan government is allowing oil money to fund drug-related crime, alleging that Maduro himself is a cartel leader — but Maduro vehemently denies this and accuses the US of using its “war on drugs” as an excuse to try and overthrow him and access Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
An oil tanker anchored in Puerto Cabello off the coast of Venezuela
Maduro has long accused the Trump administration of attempting to depose him so the US could gain control of Venezuela’s oil riches, pointing to a remark Trump made after the US seized the first oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast — and when quizzed by reporters as to what would happen with the tanker and its cargo, the US president said: “I assume we’re going to keep the oil.”
However, US officials have previously denied Venezuela’s allegations that moves against Maduro’s government were an attempt to secure access to the country’s untapped reserves.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves and profits from the oil sector finance more than half of its government budget. However, its exports have been hit by sanctions and a lack of investment and mismanagement within Venezuela’s state-run oil company.
In 2023, Venezuela produced only 0.8% of global crude oil, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). It currently exports about 900,000 barrels per day and China is by far its biggest buyer.—Edited by Maravi Express
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