Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were arrested after a secret US military operation, and the details of their treatment and transfers are now emerging. Maduro was detained by US special forces early on a weekend morning during a sudden operation in the capital city of Caracas. According to sources, US forces arrested Maduro and his wife when they were asleep in their bedroom, dragging them out and immediately taking them into US custody.
A few hours later, US President Donald Trump shared a picture of Maduro on social media, showing him on the USS Iwo Jima, dressed in a silver tracksuit, holding a water bottle, and wearing a mask and headphones. Trump said that some US personnel were injured in a helicopter accident during the operation against Maduro, and that preparations for the operation had been underway since early December.
Maduro was then seen boarding a plane at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, where he was met by over a dozen federal agents in black attire. According to CNN, Maduro was first taken to Manhattan by helicopter, and then to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he currently remains.
Immediately after, the official Rapid Response account of the White House shared a video showing Maduro apparently being paraded for the media. In the video, Maduro was seen wearing black clothes and speaking to the people around him in English, saying “goodnight” and “happy new year.” It is worth noting that Maduro and his wife have been charged with drug trafficking, large-scale cocaine imports, and possession of illegal weapons.
US officials said that the Venezuelan government would not stop taking measures to protect Americans from drug trafficking. They added that the US would not be allowed to consider itself the highest authority and attack any country. According to a news agency survey, only 33% of Americans support US military action in Venezuela.
The Prime Minister of Greenland, Jens Frederik Nielsen, said that Venezuela could not be compared to Greenland, and hoped that the US would improve relations with his country. Liberal Democrats in the US have called for the US Congress to provide legal advice on the issue and said that the silence of the Dow Jones is equivalent to Trump’s political protection.
Vice President Mike Pence expressed gratitude to those who had expressed regret over the disturbance at his home, and also thanked the special agencies for their cooperation. The head of the Iranian judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejehei, said that those who were involved in the unrest in Iran would face the consequences.
The wife of the Venezuelan president, Cilia Flores, has also denied the charges made by the US, declaring herself innocent. After the US threat of an attack, the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, surrendered and offered cooperation with the US. The Secretary-General of the United Nations expressed concern over the situation in Venezuela during a Security Council meeting.
In the UK, Sunday night was recorded as the coldest night of the season. According to media reports from London, the temperature in Cumbria reached a record low of -10.9 degrees Celsius.
According to a report, the Trump team saw Maduro’s protests as equivalent to boosting Washington’s morale, and considered them the final reason for the operation. The head of the Iranian judiciary has ordered those involved in the unrest to comply with the law. Iran has demanded the immediate release of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
According to reports, the suspects had made claims on the internet that Brigitte, the deceased, was actually born as a man, and her name was Jean Michael Trogneux. The UN’s charter binds countries to refrain from using force or threatening force against another state. The funeral prayers of the late will be held in Lahore after the prayer of Dhuhr.
