WASHINGTON: The United States attacked Venezuela and captured its long-serving President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday (Jan 3), with US President Donald Trump promising to put the country under American control for now, even as Venezuelan officials vowed defiance.
As part of a dramatic overnight operation that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas, US Special Forces captured Maduro in or near one of his safe houses, Trump said.
With Maduro in US custody, Trump said: "We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition."
"We can't take a chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn't have the interests of Venezuelans in mind," he said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
A plane carrying Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, landed in upstate New York on Saturday evening, multiple news outlets reported.
Video showed a plane arriving at Stewart International Airport about 97km northwest of New York City, with US personnel in FBI and other apparel boarding the aircraft after it landed.
TV news networks, including CNN, Fox News and MS Now, identified a person who disembarked from the plane as Maduro.
It is unclear how Trump plans to oversee Venezuela.
US forces have no control over the country itself, and Maduro's government appears not only to still be in charge but to have no appetite for cooperating with Washington.
Maduro, who was indicted on various US charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, is expected to make an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday, according to a Justice Department official.
His wife also faces charges, including cocaine importation conspiracy.
Maduro is expected to be held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn before his court appearance, the official told Reuters.
Maduro's apparent successor, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, appeared on Venezuelan television Saturday afternoon with other top officials to decry what she called a kidnapping.
“We demand the immediate release of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores," Rodriguez said, calling Maduro "the only president of Venezuela".
Rodriguez spoke hours after Trump said his administration had been in touch with her and that she appeared cooperative, adding that "she really doesn't have a choice".
Venezuela's Supreme Court late Saturday ordered Rodriguez to become the country's interim leader.
The high court ruled that Rodriguez "assume and exercise, in an acting capacity, all the attributes, duties and powers inherent to the office of president ... to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the nation".
The judges stopped short of declaring Maduro permanently absent from office, a ruling that requires holding elections within 30 days.
Peace in Latin America was disrupted by the US attack on Venezuela, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil told Russia's RIA state news agency in remarks published on Sunday.
