Strikes on Venezuela were cover for Maduro’s capture – US Senator

The country’s president is facing several charges related to narcotics trafficking and weapons on US soil

US military strikes on Venezuela were meant to provide cover for the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, who is expected to face trial on criminal charges on American soil, US Senator Mike Lee has said, citing US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The comments followed overnight explosions and reports of warplanes buzzing the capital city of Caracas. Later in the day, US President Donald Trump announced that American special forces had carried out a military operation and that Maduro, along with his wife, had been taken into custody and flown out of the country. Venezuelan authorities condemned the strikes as “grave military aggression.”

In a post on Saturday, Lee said that he had talked with Rubio on the phone, stating that “he informed me that Nicolas Maduro has been arrested by US personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”

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“The kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” the Republican senator added, noting that Rubio “anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in US custody.”

Meanwhile, Rubio himself republished his July 27 post in which he said that Maduro “is not the president of Venezuela” and that his government is not legitimate, while claiming that the Venezuelan leader is in charge of a major drug cartel.

Maduro has long denied such allegations, claiming the US was using them as a pretext for military aggression and in order to topple his government.

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that Maduro and his wife had been indicted in New York and 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.” 

The strikes and capture represent the first US intervention in South America of its kind since the 1989 invasion of Panama. The US has long accused Maduro’s government of involvement in international drug trafficking, which the country’s leadership vehemently denies.