Washington, Jan 3 (.) US President Donald Trump has shared a new image on Truth Social, showcasing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima, which he said was transporting the leader to the US to face trial.
The image posted by Trump appears to show Maduro blindfolded with an eye mask, wearing headphones and a grey tracksuit, and holding a bottle. Trump claimed the photograph was taken while Maduro was in US military custody during his transfer.
According to two sources of CBS News, the military aircraft carrying Maduro is expected to land later today at New York Stewart International Airport in the Hudson Valley, around 60 miles north of Manhattan. Upon arrival, Maduro is expected to be handed over to federal authorities.
Maduro is reportedly likely to be arraigned next week in federal court in Manhattan’s Southern District of New York. The case has reportedly been assigned to US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
Earlier on Saturday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on narco-terrorism charges.
Bondi said that Maduro and his wife “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
In a 2020 indictment, US federal prosecutors alleged that Maduro and other senior Venezuelan officials collaborated with the Colombian guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) to traffic cocaine and weapons into the US.
It remains unclear whether Bondi was referring solely to the existing charges or whether additional indictments will be filed on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said that Washington would temporarily be taking the reins of Caracas, and “run” the country, until a “judicial transition” of power is achieved.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” he said, adding that Washington wanted to avoid repeating what he described as past failures in leadership change.
“We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela,” Trump said.
He claimed that all of Venezuela’s military capabilities had been neutralised during the operation.
“All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military, working with US law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night,” the president said.
Trump claimed that Venezuelan forces had been in a “ready position” but were “completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated.”
He described the operation as “an incredible thing to see,” saying no US service members were killed and no American military equipment was lost.
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