Venezuela’s deposed president, Nicolas Maduro, is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in New York at noon Monday to be formally notified about the charges against him, the court said.
Maduro, 63, faces narcotrafficking charges along with his wife, Cilia Flores. The pair were forcibly taken out of Caracas in a US assault Saturday, in which commandos swooped in on helicopters, backed by fighter jets and naval forces, to capture them.
On Monday morning, Maduro was escorted by heavily armed law enforcement officers to a courthouse in New York, having been transported by helicopter and armored car.
The Trump administration said it was willing to work with the rest of Maduro’s government as long as Washington’s goals, including opening access to US investment in the enormous Venezuelan crude oil reserves, are met.
President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday that Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez, would pay a “very big price” if she did not cooperate with the United States, after US forces seized her former boss, Nicolas Maduro.
“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump told The Atlantic in a brief telephone interview.
Trump’s warning came as Rodriguez was confirmed as interim president by Venezuela’s Supreme Court and military officials.
All eyes are on Venezuela’s response to the swiftly moving events, and late Sunday, interim leader Delcy Rodriguez stepped back from her initial defiance by offering to work with Trump.
“We extend an invitation to the US government to work together on an agenda for cooperation,” the former vice president said.
Some 2,000 Maduro supporters, including rifle-wielding men on motorcycles, rallied Sunday in Caracas, with crowds shouting and waving Venezuelan flags.
The Venezuelan military, loyal to Maduro, announced it recognized Rodriguez and urged calm.
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No Venezuela death toll has been announced, but Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said a “large part” of Maduro’s security team was killed “in cold blood,” as well as military personnel and civilians.
Trump said late Sunday that the United States was “in charge” of the South American nation.
He told The Atlantic that “rebuilding there and regime change — anything you want to call it — is better than what you have right now”.
“Rebuilding is not a bad thing in Venezuela’s case. The country’s gone to hell. It’s a failed country. It’s a totally failed country. It’s a country that’s a disaster in every way,” he said.
Meanwhile, five Latin American countries and Spain warned on Sunday against any outside bid for “control” of Venezuela, after US President Donald Trump suggested Washington would “run” the country and access its oil.
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Spain in a joint statement expressed their “rejection” of US forces’ ousting of Maduro as Venezuela’s president and “concern about any attempt at governmental control or administration or outside appropriation of natural or strategic resources.”
China, Russia and Iran, which have longstanding ties with Maduro’s government, were also quick to condemn the operation. Some US allies, including the EU, expressed alarm.
China called for Maduro to be “immediately released” in a condemnation of the US operation, which its foreign ministry said was a “clear violation of international law.”
Iran said on Monday that its relations with close ally Venezuela remained unchanged and called for Maduro’s release.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, whose country neighbors Venezuela, called the US action an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America, which would lead to a humanitarian crisis.
Petro rejected threats on Sunday of military action in Colombia made by Trump, who also accused the South American leader of drug trafficking