Overview
- Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores arrived at Stewart Air National Guard Base and were taken into U.S. custody after their capture in Caracas.
- An unsealed Southern District of New York indictment charges Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and illegal weapons offenses, with Flores and Nicolás Maduro Guerra also named.
- The operation, dubbed Absolute Resolve, involved Delta Force entering the Ft. Tiuna compound, extracting the pair to the USS Iwo Jima, and deploying more than 150 aircraft across air, land, and sea.
- President Trump released a photo of Maduro aboard the warship, said U.S. forces remain positioned, warned a larger second wave could follow, and pledged temporary U.S. administration of Venezuela with U.S. oil companies repairing infrastructure.
- Venezuelan officials denounced the action as regime change and alleged civilian casualties, while U.S. sources reported some injured personnel, and lawmakers and foreign leaders pressed legal and diplomatic concerns.