At least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed during the operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, the 3rd, according to the American newspaper The New York Times, cited by a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Also according to the NYT, more than 150 American aircraft were dispatched to neutralize Venezuela’s air defenses, allowing military helicopters to transport the troops that attacked Maduro’s position.
The airplane carrying Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, landed at Stewart National Guard Base in New York. Maduro got off the aircraft in handcuffs and was escorted by more than a dozen federal agents. He wore a light gray suit.
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The Boeing 757-200 of the United States Department of Justice left Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and headed toward the United States. Caribbean airspace was closed.
Also on Saturday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Maduro would be tried by the American judiciary in a New York court.
According to Bondi, the Venezuelan dictator and First Lady Cilia Flores – who was also detained by American authorities – were formally charged with the following crimes: conspiracy to narcoterrorism; conspiracy to traffic cocaine; possession of machine guns and explosive devices; conspiracy to possess machine guns.
Ship transport
According to Trump, Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured in Caracas by the agents taking part in the United States’ operation in Venezuela.
They were then transported by a United States Armed Forces helicopter to the Iwo Jima, one of the U.S. Navy’s warships that had been positioned in the Caribbean Sea since the end of last year.
The vessel also has a substantial capacity to project air and ground power in combined operations, with helicopters, aircraft, and Marines aboard.
