Washington: In a bold move that has stunned the world, US President Donald Trump has posted the first photograph of ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in American custody, showing him blindfolded with a black cloth, hands tied, and dressed in a grey tracksuit while holding a water bottle.
The image, shared on Trump’s Truth Social platform with the caption “Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima”, captures Maduro aboard the US naval vessel following a daring overnight military operation. Early on Saturday, a large-scale US strike seized the Venezuelan president and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their bedroom in Caracas.
Trump hailed the raid as a “wonderful” and “highly secure” success, with no American casualties. He compared it to the 1989 US invasion of Panama that led to the arrest of Manuel Noriega.
The operation, planned days earlier but delayed due to weather, involved elite forces and law enforcement.
US Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced fresh indictments against Maduro and Flores in New York for narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. “They will face American justice soon,” she declared.
Maduro’s last public sighting was on Friday, meeting a Chinese delegation. As the deposed leader heads to the US, questions swirl over Venezuela’s future amid this dramatic assertion of American power.