Washington, 3 January. US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Saturday that serious federal charges related to drug trafficking and terrorism have been filed against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in the Southern District of New York.
Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump claimed that the Venezuelan President and his wife had been “captured” and “taken out” of Caracas.
On his social media platform ‘Truth Social’, Trump wrote, “The United States has successfully carried out a massive operation against Venezuela and its leader President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro and his wife have been captured and taken out of the country.”
He added that the operation was conducted in coordination with US law enforcement agencies.
According to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Maduro faces accusations including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine import conspiracy, illegal possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to use these weapons against the United States.
Bondi tweeted, “They will soon face the full force of American justice on American soil, in American courts. On behalf of the entire US Department of Justice, I thank President Trump for showing the courage to ensure accountability on behalf of the American people, and I express gratitude to the brave military personnel who carried out this highly successful operation to capture these two alleged international narco-traffickers.”
Earlier on Saturday, Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez stated that after early morning US attacks in Caracas, Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, the whereabouts of President Maduro and his wife are unknown.
According to Venezuela’s leading newspaper El Nacional, Rodríguez, in a telephone interview with Venezolana de Televisión, demanded the US government provide “proof of life” for Maduro and Flores.
The newspaper reported that Rodríguez also called on the public to act under a “civil-military unity” to defend the country.
El Nacional, citing Fox News sources, reported that the US military operation at night involved large deployments of Chinook helicopters and special forces.
In the early hours of Saturday, several loud explosions were heard in Caracas. According to US media, Maduro was captured by the US military’s special and elite unit Delta Force.
El Nacional’s report stated that administrative sources revealed that after months of increased US military presence near the Venezuelan coast and appeals from the White House for Maduro to step down, President Trump had recently greenlighted this military action.
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Daily Kiran
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