Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are set to appear today in a Manhattan federal courtroom to be charged with narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. His lawyers are expected to argue his arrest was illegal and that as a sovereign head of state, he’s immune from prosecution. Legal experts expect that argument to fail.
Operation Absolute Resolve, the joint military-law-enforcement arrest of Maduro early Saturday morning, came after the White House said the Venezuelan leader rejected several deals to step down from power.
The operation, led by Delta Force operatives, involved 150 aircraft. Maduro was reportedly captured just as he was trying to close the door on a safe room. The attack killed about 32 Cubans who make up his security forces.
One U.S. helicopter was hit but continued its mission. U.S. officials said that about half a dozen soldiers were injured in the operation.
Venezuelans around the world celebrated. But some U.S. Democratic lawmakers called the arrest of Maduro illegal.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said, “It’s a violation of the law to do what they did without getting the authorization of Congress.”
However, one unnamed House Democrat told the website Axios that fellow Democrats’ opposition to Maduro’s arrest “looks weak.” The lawmaker continued, “If you don’t acknowledge when there is a win for our country, then you lose all credibility.”
Aboard Air Force One, President Trump said the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela.
But it appears Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, and other officials of the Maduro administration are in control.
Rodríguez is a long-time ally of Maduro and at first demanded he be returned, but then struck a more conciliatory tone after Trump threatened a stronger response.
Untangling the corrupt Venezuelan government could be very complicated. The Venezuelan military has long been embedded with Cuban officers. And Venezuela is allied with Iran, even welcoming Hezbollah operatives, as well as the Russians and Chinese.
Eight million Venezuelans fled the nation under the rule of Maduro and Hugo Chavez. Three million are in Colombia, where CBN correspondent Chuck Holton is watching the border traffic.
He told us, “Every other time I’ve been to the bridge behind me between Colombia and Venezuela, it’s been the scene of absolute chaos, mostly Venezuelans trying to flee their country and get across into Colombia. And I wondered if coming back this time, now that Maduro is gone, there’d be Venezuelans heading back home, but that’s not really the case. As a matter of fact, there’s probably more journalists on that bridge right now than there are Venezuelans. That’s because the Venezuelans say while they’re very happy that Maduro is gone, the regime is still in place, and they’re not going to go back home until they know that they can do so safely and not be under the thumb of what’s left of the Maduro regime.”
Some experts believe Venezuela may have as much as six times the oil reserves of the United States. Hugo Chavez ran U.S. oil companies out of the country, and its oil sector is now operating at just 18 percent capacity. Trump wants to revive it, for the benefit of both countries.
“Venezuela right now is a dead country. We have to bring it back. We’re going to have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure,” Trump said.
New Venezuelan president Rodriguez now says she wants to work together with the Trump Administration.
Trump has warned the U.S. could launch a second strike on Venezuela if “they don’t behave.”
