New York/Caracas, 05 January (H.S.): Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and spouse Cilia Flores, seized in a meticulously orchestrated US military raid on Saturday, are slated for initial arraignment today at 12:00 p.m. ET in Manhattan's US District Court for the Southern District of New York, presided over by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein—a Clinton appointee long shepherding the narcotics conspiracy case.
Held at Brooklyn's high-security Metropolitan Detention Center after transport via USS Iwo Jima, the duo confronts charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation, and arms possession, indictments unsealed from a 15-year probe implicating Maduro since 2020.
The blitzkrieg operation, dubbed Absolute Resolve by sources and greenlit by President Donald Trump, unfolded in 150 minutes early Saturday, deploying Delta Force alongside intelligence assets embedded undetected in Caracas; strikes crippled 30+ drug-laden vessels, Maduro's fortified bunker defenses, La Guaira port, and a capital airbase, rendering Venezuelan military inert.
Attorney General Pam Bondi lauded the months-long interagency feat as perfectly executed to dismantle the Cartel de los Soles—Maduro's alleged narco-terror syndicate fueling US opioid deaths—after diplomatic overtures failed.
Rubio's Calculated Reassurances
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in CBS and other Sunday briefings, asserted the US stands not at war with Venezuela but is running the direction post-capture, securing the top priority without netting the full regime to avoid overreach.
He evaded legitimizing interim leader Delcy Rodríguez—now empowered by Venezuela's Supreme Court and Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino amid vows of defiance—insisting the socialist apparatus remains illegitimate, retaining multiple levers of leverage like naval blockades should Caracas balk.
Venezuelan Defiance and CarnagePadrino decried slain security aides and innocent civilians, with residents in Catia La Mar like Jonatan Mallora crediting sheer luck for surviving blasts that pulverized homes; borders sealed quietly under Colombian reinforcements fearing ELN incursions.
Rodríguez branded the snatch barbaric kidnapping, her predecessor the only president, as Maduro's son Nicolás Guerra rallied streets against traitors; opposition Nobel laureate María Corina Machado mobilized diaspora protests from Barcelona to New Delhi.
Global Ripples and Foreboding
Trump, from Mar-a-Lago, vowed to run Venezuela for a judicious transition, warning Rodríguez of a big price and hinting boots-on-ground if needed, evoking gunboat diplomacy per analysts.
Six Latin states, the EU (sans Hungary), UN, Cuba's Díaz-Canel, and Pope Leo assailed sovereignty breaches; ex-CIA deputy John McLaughlin fretted opaque day after blueprints. As a ruling-party parliament convenes today, oil stakes loom amid migration fears and Rubio's hemispheric threat calculus.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
