Overview
- The Venezuelan leader and his wife are in US custody and appeared in Manhattan federal court on narcoterrorism and drug‑trafficking charges that prosecutors link to the alleged Cartel de los Soles.
- Flores showed visible bandages in court, and her lawyer requested X‑rays and a full medical evaluation after what he described as significant injuries.
- Administration briefers told lawmakers the couple hit their heads while trying to escape, and they described Flores’s head injury as minor, according to sources familiar with the briefing.
- Officials said nearly 200 US personnel were on the ground in Caracas and that a firefight with a nearby Cuban quick‑reaction force left some US operators wounded with non‑life‑threatening injuries.
- Briefers emphasized the capture was not a regime‑change operation and said Washington is engaging acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez.