Overview
- U.S. officials say Army Delta Force captured Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores in Caracas, moved them to the USS Iwo Jima, and flew them to Stewart Air National Guard Base for custody in the New York area.
- A superseding Southern District of New York indictment accuses Maduro of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation, and weapons offenses involving machineguns and destructive devices, with Flores also implicated.
- President Trump said the United States would temporarily run Venezuela during a transition and signaled plans to leverage the country's oil, drawing immediate international condemnation and emergency diplomatic calls.
- Republican lawmakers praised the operation and confirmed U.S. custody, while Democrats labeled it an unauthorized use of force and raised constitutional war-powers concerns, with senior figures demanding legal justification.
- Venezuelan communities in U.S. cities celebrated and voiced concern for relatives, Miami’s mayor urged reinstating TPS protections, and opposition leader María Corina Machado called for a rapid transition recognizing Edmundo González.