CARACAS, Jan 3: Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, appearing on state television on Saturday morning, has demanded proof from the US authorities whether President Nicolis Maduro is alive or not, as well as the confirmation of his whereabouts following Trump’s currently unsubstantiated claims where he announced that the Venezuelan President and his wife had been captured by US authorities.
Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, slamming the unwarranted military assault as “the worst aggression” the Latin American nation had ever faced, confirmed on social media that Caracas had now greenlit military deployment across the country, following the US strikes.
Stating that the government, as per Maduro’s orders had declared a “state of external commotion” – effectively a form of national emergency – Lopez urged citizens to remain calm and united in this time of crisis, and avoid creating panic and disorder, though made no mention of Maduro’s alleged capture.
President Trump said early Saturday that his Venezuelan counterpart, along with his wife had been “captured and flown out of the country,” confirming that US forces had carried out what he described as a “large-scale strike,” as explosions were reported in Caracas and other parts of Venezuela.
US officials told CBS News that the operation to seize Maduro was conducted by Delta Force, the Army’s elite special operations unit. The action followed months of heightened US military activity in the region, including the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships in the Caribbean.
In recent weeks, Washington has also seized two oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast, carried out deadly strikes on more than 30 boats that US authorities say were transporting narcotics, and targeted what Trump described as “the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.”
The Trump administration has long accused Maduro of drug trafficking and collaborating with gangs designated as terrorist organisations, allegations he has repeatedly denied.
As per the findings of the US’ anti-drug trafficking body, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), Venezuela did not even figure on the top 10 of the largest illegal drug trafficking countries to the US.
On Christmas eve, Trump declined to spell out his endgame in Venezuela but warned that if Maduro “plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’ll ever be able to play tough.”
Washington, which has long sought Maduro’s arrest, has accused the Venezuelan leader of spearheading “narco-terrorism” in the country, by smuggling drugs into the US, and had even offered a hefty USD50 million bounty for information leading to his capture.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Maduro and senior officials worked with Colombia’s Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) to traffic cocaine and weapons to the US.
The US Justice Department also accused Maduro of heading an alleged cartel syndicate called Cartel de Los Soles, which the Trump administration had designated a foreign terrorist organisation last year, though some analysts argue the term refers to a loosely connected network of corrupt officials rather than a single, centralised cartel.
(UNI)
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