U.S. Narrows Case Against Maduro as Delcy Rodríguez Moves to Consolidate Control

Overview

• After a U.S. raid that seized Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, a revised Justice Department indictment drops the claim he led the so‑called Cartel de los Soles while keeping narcoterrorism and cocaine‑trafficking charges.
• Maduro and Flores are in federal custody in New York and pleaded not guilty, while Venezuelan interim leader Delcy Rodríguez declared that no external power is governing the country.
• At the OAS, the U.S. ambassador argued the operation was a targeted extraction grounded in the indictment, as Brazil and other governments condemned it as a grave breach of Venezuelan sovereignty.
• President Donald Trump praised the mission as “technically perfect,” signaled plans to meet major oil companies about Venezuela, and cited no U.S. casualties, with Venezuela reporting dozens of deaths among personnel protecting Maduro.
• Experts note the DEA and UN drug reports do not identify a formal Cartel de los Soles, even as the updated U.S. case alleges a clientelist network enriching Venezuelan elites and adds detailed narcotics counts.