Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, awoke early Saturday morning to U.S. special forces capturing them from their capital city compound, and by the end of the day they were in federal custody in New York.
Over the span of a few hours on Saturday, U.S. strikes targeted air defenses and other sites in Caracas and three other Venezuelan states, whisking away both Maduro and Flores and transporting them thousands of miles over sea and air to the United States.
The operation marked a dramatic escalation of President Donald Trump's stance toward Venezuela after months of rising tensions, threats and oil tanker seizures.
Maduro and his wife have been indicted on federal drug and weapons charges, and are expected to attend an arraignment in New York City as early as Monday, according to multiple media reports.
As global reverberations continue to be felt, many questions remain unanswered, including those regarding the future of U.S.-Venezuela relations and how the South American nation will move forward.
