Overview
- Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, captured in a U.S. operation, is being held in Brooklyn on narcotics charges and is expected in federal court in New York on Monday.
- Large demonstrations denouncing the strike and calling for Maduro’s release were held outside MDC Brooklyn and in cities including Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham and San Diego.
- Some Venezuelans in the U.S. welcomed Maduro’s ouster, with counter-demonstrators in New York and a large Orlando vigil celebrating the move as a step toward change.
- President Trump said the U.S. will temporarily run Venezuela and take control of its oil production, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke of a “quarantine” on oil exports and did not rule out sending troops.
- Democratic leaders such as Sen. Chuck Schumer criticized the action as reckless and potentially unlawful for bypassing Congress, while many Republicans praised the operation, referred to by the White House as Operation Absolute Resolve.