Overview
- Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal court to narcotics and weapons charges after U.S. forces flew them from Caracas to New York.
- Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president in Caracas, while House Speaker Mike Johnson said after a classified briefing he does not expect U.S. troops to deploy and described the effort as not a regime-change operation.
- An emergency U.N. Security Council session and statements from leaders in Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay criticized the operation as a violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty, as Mexico and Colombia lodged objections to recent U.S. threats.
- Casualty figures from the strike and raid remain uncertain, with multiple reports citing at least 40 dead and some estimates higher, as accounts describe extensive airstrikes, power cuts, and a Delta Force entry into Maduro’s Fort Tiuna compound.
- President Donald Trump said the U.S. would temporarily “run” Venezuela policy and pressed for American energy investment, while a new poll showed Americans divided over the raid and broadly opposed the U.S. choosing Venezuela’s next government.