The constitutional president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, will appear in a New York court today. Following his abduction on January 3rd during an airstrike ordered by Donald Trump and carried out by U.S. special forces.
According to a spokesperson for the Southern District Court of New York. Maduro and his wife, Congresswoman Cilia Flores, will be brought before Federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan at 12:00 p.m. local time.
Since Saturday night, both have been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, a high-security federal prison. This will be their first hearing before a U.S. court following the fabrication of a case. According to observers, is solely aimed at regime change in Venezuela and Trump’s announced control of the South American nation’s oil reserves.
The hearing will take place just 48 hours after the U.S. government announced the kidnapping of the Venezuelan leader and his partner. In an operation that included bombings of targets in various parts of Venezuela.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi published a joint statement with the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regarding the operation that resulted in Maduro’s abduction.
They stated that the action required months of planning and was intended to “ensure the safe transfer of the defendants to the country to face the federal charges against them.”
“All legal options to resolve the situation peacefully were explored.” But the responsibility for the outcome lies with “the persistence of criminal conduct” by the defendants, Bondi affirmed.
The ANSWER coalition warned that after weeks of threats from Trump that a ground invasion of Venezuela would soon begin. Also the aggression occurred and that this could be the start of another war, based entirely on lies.
For the anti-war organization, this is not about the Trump administration fighting drug trafficking or defending democracy. But rather about stealing Venezuela’s oil and dominating Latin America.
Shortly before 5:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, the plane carrying Maduro landed at a military base in New York. He disembarked some time later under heavy security, hooded, walking with difficulty, and apparently handcuffed. Visibility was very poor, according to images broadcast on television here.
This weekend saw protests against the war and in support of Venezuela in several U.S. cities, including the nation’s capital. Yesterday, a massive demonstration also took place in front of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Where Maduro and his wife are being held.
The demonstration demanded that Trump put an end to coups, U.S. interventionism, and the kidnapping of the president of a sovereign nation. Seventy percent of Venezuelan citizens oppose military action in the country, according to polls.
With information from Prensa Latina
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