Captured Nicolas Maduro reaches New York detention center after US strike on Venezuela

A historic military operation occurred as U.S. special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday, January 3. The plane carrying Maduro and his wife landed at New York’s Stewart Air National Base on Saturday night.

According to US reports, Maduro and his wife arrived at Brroklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

However, Trump says that the US is going to be very strongly involved in Venezuela’s oil industry, and confirmed that he spoke to Maduro a week ago, telling him: “ You have to give up; you have to surrender.”

In conversation with CBS News, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke about his visit to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where American soldiers returned after the successful mission. He stated “ I saw the best of America, I saw men and women dedicating their lives to defending our country and to accomplish that mission.”

Maduro was arrested in New York on drugs and weapons charges shortly after he landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base.

Earlier, he has denied being the leader of a drug cartel. Concerning the serious incident, Venezuela has proclaimed a state of emergency, denouncing the US operation as an extremely serious military aggression.

According to the US Vice President JD Vance in a post on X, “The president offered multiple off ramps, but he was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States.”

There is a state of apprehension on the streets in Caracas; people are barely going out but there are long queues at pharmacies and supermarkets.

While there has been talk for months that this could happen, the reality of yesterday’s incident has still come as a shock to Venezuelans.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that the UK was not involved in any way in the US operation in Venezuela and that he is seeking more information to officially release further comments on the incident.

He further said, “What I can say is that the UK was not involved in any way in this operation.”

It is officially confirmed that Nicolas Maduro has been detained and taken out of the country now all eyes are on who will govern Venezuela next.

According to some opposition supporters, there is a sense that a turning point has finally arrived to end a government that much of the global community describes as dictatorial, and whose leader has been indicted by Washington and other Latin American governments.

Additionally, there are rising fears that the attack and Maduro’s announced departure could trigger even greater disruption in a country battered by years of political, economic, and social crisis.