By Reuters and published by CNA
Washington – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was due to appear in a United States court on Monday (Jan. 5) after his weekend capture by American forces, with US President Donald Trump leaving open the possibility of another incursion if the United States does not get its way with the country’s interim leader.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he could order another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with US efforts to open up its oil industry and stop drug trafficking.
He also threatened military action in Colombia and Mexico and said Cuba’s communist regime “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own.
The Colombian and Mexican embassies in Washington did not immediately return requests for comment.
The remarks by Trump came on the eve of Maduro’s scheduled appearance on Monday before a federal judge in New York. Maduro was detained during a military raid on Saturday in Caracas that drew international concern and plunged Venezuela into uncertainty.
Trump administration officials have portrayed the seizure as a law-enforcement action to hold Maduro accountable for criminal charges filed in 2020 that accuse him of narco-terrorism conspiracy.
But Trump himself has said other factors were at play, saying the raid was prompted in part by an influx of Venezuelan immigrants to the United States and the country’s decision to nationalise US oil interests decades ago.
”We’re in charge”
“We’re taking back what they stole,” he said aboard Air Force One as he returned on Sunday to Washington from Florida. “We’re in charge.”
Oil companies will return to Venezuela and rebuild the country’s petroleum industry, Trump said.
“They’re going to spend billions of dollars and they’re going to take the oil out of the ground,” he said.
Global oil prices edged up in choppy trade as investors considered the implications of US military action in Venezuela, while stock markets rose in Asia.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who has taken over as interim leader, has said Maduro remains president and has contradicted Trump’s claim that she is willing to work with the United States. Rodriguez, who also serves as oil minister, has long been considered the most pragmatic member of Maduro’s inner circle.
Maduro, 63, faces charges that accuse him of providing support to major drug trafficking groups, such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Tren de Aragua gang.
Prosecutors say he directed cocaine trafficking routes, used the military to protect shipments, sheltered violent trafficking groups and used presidential facilities to move drugs. The charges, first filed in 2020, were updated on Saturday to include his wife, Cilia Flores, who is accused of ordering kidnappings and murders.
Maduro has denied wrongdoing, and it could be several months before he stands trial.
Images of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed stunned Venezuelans. The operation was Washington’s most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago.
Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino said on state television that the US attack killed soldiers, civilians and a “large part” of Maduro’s security detail “in cold blood”.
Venezuela’s armed forces have been activated to guarantee sovereignty, he said.
The Cuban government said 32 of its citizens were killed during the raid.
Havana said there would be two days of mourning on Jan. 5 and Jan 6 and that funeral arrangements would be announced.
The Cuban government statement gave few details, but said all the dead were members of the Cuban armed forces and intelligence agencies.
Cuba has provided some security for Maduro since he came to power. It was not clear how many Cubans were guarding the Venezuelan president when they died and how many may have perished elsewhere.
Muted streets
Some Maduro supporters gathered at a government-sponsored protest march on Sunday afternoon in Caracas.
Once ruled by Spain, Venezuela’s “people must not surrender, nor should we ever become a colony of anyone again”, said demonstrator Reinaldo Mijares.
“This country is not a country of the defeated.”
Maduro opponents in Venezuela have been wary of celebrating his seizure, and the presence of security forces seemed, if anything, lighter than usual on Sunday.
Despite a nervous mood, some bakeries and coffee shops were open, and joggers and cyclists were out as usual. Some citizens were stocking up on essentials.
“Yesterday I was very afraid to go out, but today I had to. This situation caught me without food and I need to figure things out. After all, Venezuelans are used to enduring fear,” said a single mother in oil city Maracaibo who bought rice, vegetables and tuna.
To the disappointment of Venezuela’s opposition, Trump has given short shrift to the idea of 58-year-old opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado taking over, saying she lacked support.
Machado was banned from standing in the 2024 election but has said her ally Edmundo Gonzalez, 76, who the opposition and some international observers say overwhelmingly won that vote, has a democratic mandate to take the presidency.
Looming questions
On Sunday, Trump said his administration will try to work with Venezuela’s current government to clamp down on drug trafficking and open up its oil industry, rather than pushing for elections to install new leaders.
Though Maduro has few allies on the world stage, many countries have questioned the legality of seizing a foreign head of state and called on the US to respect international law. The UN Security Council planned to meet on Monday to discuss the US attack, which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as a dangerous precedent.
The attack has also raised questions in Washington, where opposition Democrats say they were misled by the administration about its Venezuela policy.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due to brief top lawmakers on Capitol Hill later on Monday.
Once one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America, Venezuela’s economy has collapsed over the past 20 years, sending about one in five Venezuelans abroad in one of the world’s biggest exoduses.
The removal of Maduro, a former bus driver who led Venezuela for more than 12 years after the death of strongman Hugo Chavez, could lead to even more destabilisation in the nation of 28 million people.
CAPTIONS:
Top – US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Florida to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on Jan. 4, 2026. Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst and published by CNA
First insert – People take part in a demonstration against US military action in Venezuela outside the Metropolitan Detention Centre, where ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Jan. 4, 2026. Photo: AFP/Kena Betancur and published by CNA
Second insert – Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks during the Antifascist Global Parliamentary Forum in Caracas on Nov. 5, 2024. File photo: AFP/Juan Barreto and published by CNA
Third insert – People hold photographs of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez and President Nicolas Maduro outside the Vice-Presidency building, after US President Donald Trump said the US has struck Venezuela and captured Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan, 3, 2026. Photo: Reuters/Gaby Oraa and published by CNA
Front Page – US President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club, on Saturday, on Jan. 3, 2026, in Palm Beach, Fla. Photo: AP /Alex Brandon and published by CNA
Watch video of a protest against US in Athens shared by Vedat Yeler @vedatyeler on X,com
https://x.com/i/status/2007501491029098929
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