The captured President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, is expected to appear in a US court on drug and weapons charges, which could happen as soon as Monday, January 5.
US officials say President Maduro will face “full wrath” of US justice on “American soil.”
President Maduro, with his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, is being held at a New York detention centre after their capture in the US strikes on Venezuela on Saturday, January 3.
They were taken from the capital, Caracas, to the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn to face drug trafficking-related charges. Maduro has previously denied being the leader of a drug cartel.
After arriving in New York, the president was taken to the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He has since been transferred from the DEA office in Manhattan to the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.
Venezuela has declared a state of national emergency and denounces the “military aggression.”
US President Donald Trump says the US is going to “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”
The Supreme Court has sworn in a loyalist of President Maduro, Delcy Rodríguez, as the interim president.
