US-Venezuela strikes updates: Nicolás Maduro, Cilia Flores land in New York, Donald Trump reveals plan

A complex operation to bring Venezuelan President Nichols Maduro to the United States on Federal drug charges has wrapped up, with the leader seen walking in chains at the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York office.

After Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were ripped from Caracas in a US military operation dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve, they started a near 24 hour journey, ending in a New York detention centre.

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Read Latika M Bourke’s analysis on US President Donald Trump’s attack on Venezuela.

Former US Vice President and unsuccessful Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris says Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela do “not make America safer”.

Ms Harris said Mr Trump’s actions were motivated by oil and self-interest, not putting US citizens first.

“That Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator does not change the fact that this action was both unlawful and unwise. We’ve seen this movie before. Wars for regime change or oil that are sold as strength but turn into chaos, and American families pay the price,” Ms Harris wrote on X.

“The American people do not want this, and they are tired of being lied to.

“This is not about drugs or democracy. It is about oil and Donald Trump’s desire to play the regional strongman. If he cared about either, he wouldn’t pardon a convicted drug trafficker or sideline Venezuela’s legitimate opposition while pursuing deals with Maduro’s cronies.

Ms Harris accused Mr Trump of “putting troops at risk, spending billions, destabilizing a region, and offering no legal authority, no exit plan, and no benefit at home”.

A video has been released of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro being escorted, in chains, through the Drug Enforcement Administration in New York after he was processed.

The walk, often called a “perp walk”, Maduro can be heard saying something that sounds like “Happy New Year”.

Maduro is now inside a New York detention centre after a carefully orchestrated extraction brought him to the US on drug charges.

Hours after Saturday morning’s US military raid on Venezuela’s capital, Nicolás Maduro and his wife landed in Newburgh, New York, on a Justice Department jet to face an indictment that charges them, their son and three other men with cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism crimes.

From the secretive realm of military special operations, the case moves into the mundane world of US District Court in Manhattan and the grimy environs where defendants are detained before trial.

Some of what happens next is predictable: The defendants will be taken before a judge and probably enter a plea of not guilty. The judge will almost certainly order them detained pending a trial that could be more than a year away.

But the extraordinary nature of the case makes much unclear.

Read the full story from The New York Times.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been escorted around New York in stunning scenes as US President Donald Trump’s major military operation continues.

Maduro was whisked into the US Drug Enforcement Headquarters for processing recently before he was put back into a helicopter to be taken to the Metropolitan Detention Centre.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife have been flown by helicopter and then taken by motorcycle to the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s headquarters in Manhattan to be processed.

After that, Maduro will be taken to the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn.

The MDC, a Federal detention facility, has held many high-profile inmates, including R Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sean Combs.

There are around 1300 people held inside the MDC.

Anthony Albanese has urged Donald Trump and Venezuelan leaders to keep talking and back a peaceful, democratic transition after US forces captured the South American country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

“We urge all parties to support dialogue and diplomacy in order to secure regional stability and prevent escalation,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.

“Australia has long held concerns about the situation in Venezuela, including the need to respect democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“We continue to support international law and a peaceful, democratic transition in Venezuela that reflects the will of the Venezuelan people.”

His response echoes that of the European Union, which called for restraint and respect for international law.

Read the full story.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have landed in the United States after they were captured and removed by US forces.

Shortly after 5.30pm local time, the couple landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York.

From there, Maduro and his wife will be taken to another location where they will face narco-terrorism charges, according to US officials.

After the US launched an attack on Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the couple would face the full wrath of the US justice system.

“Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” she said on X.

“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

US President Donald Trump has published the first photo of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, blindfolded on board a US warship, after capturing the leader and his wife in a military operation.

Mr Trump took to Truth Social to share the image, which shows Maduro blindfolded, handcuffed and being held upright by US forces.

The picture shows Maduro wearing headphones, presumably to prevent him from hearing anything.

He was pictured wearing a grey Nike tracksuit while holding onto a water bottle.

In the image shared by the US President after the attack on the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Maduro does not appear to have suffered visible injuries from the high-stakes US military operation which saw he has his wife captured and removed from his country.

Read the full story.