Venezuela’s toppled leader Nicolas Maduro was in a New York detention center on Sunday awaiting drug charges after President Donald Trump ordered an audacious raid to capture him, saying the U.S. would take control of the oil-producing nation.
The image of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed en route to the U.S. has stunned Venezuelans and was Washington’s most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago.
Maduro, who wished his captors a “Happy New Year” on arrival, is due to appear in a Manhattan court on Monday.
With memories of painful U.S. interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, many world leaders were staggered at Trump’s move, even though Maduro’s standing was low given his autocratic rule and substantial evidence of vote-rigging.
