The New York Times
Venezuela Live Updates: At U.N. Emergency Meeting, U.S. Allies Criticize Military Action in Caracas
American allies including France objected to the military incursion into a sovereign state and the capture of the Venezuelan president as a violation of international law.
Benjamin WeiserJonah E. BromwichAnnie Karni and Hurubie Meko
Benjamin Weiser, Jonah E. Bromwich and Hurubie Meko reported from Lower Manhattan. Annie Karni reported from Washington.
Some of the staunchest U.S. allies criticized the raid that captured Venezuela’s leader two days ago, using an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to object to a military operation that landed the autocrat before a federal judge on Monday.
The U.N. secretary general, António Guterres, said the Trump administration had violated the U.N. charter with the nighttime raid that used roughly 200 members of the U.S. military’s special forces to take the ousted leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife into custody. U.S. allies including France criticized the raid, while representatives from Russia and China demanded their release.
Nicolás Maduro, the deposed Venezuelan leader who pleaded not guilty to federal charges in a Manhattan courthouse on Monday, was insistent that he was not a common criminal defendant, but a “prisoner of war.”
Mr. Maduro, was sending a pointed message: that the Special Forces raid on his compound in Venezuela on Saturday was not a law enforcement operation, as the Trump administration has argued, but a military action.
Moscow’s mixed reaction to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela has stirred memories of a barter reportedly offered by Russia seven years ago, during another moment of heightened tension between Washington and Caracas.
At the time, Russia signaled that it was willing to allow the United States to act as it pleased in Venezuela, in exchange for Washington giving the Kremlin a free hand in Ukraine, according to Congressional testimony from Fiona Hill, who ran Russian and European affairs on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration.
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, called Nicolás Maduro a “dictator” and a “bad guy” on Capitol Hill on Monday. But in the aftermath of the Trump administration capturing the Venezuelan leader, Jeffries said: “The future of the Venezuelan people should be determined by the Venezuelan people. Not by Donald Trump.”
Senator John Thune, the Republican majority leader, said he was “comfortable” with the Trump administration capturing President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and his wife, Cilia Flores, over the weekend in a military raid without consulting or alerting Congress. “They didn’t tell me ahead of time, but I think there’s a reason why: Like I said before, notification of Congress in advance of really critical and hypersensitive missions to me seems ill advised anyway,” Thune said on Capitol Hill on Monday. He added that “considering the scope of the mission,” it was “sufficient” for the administration to update the Gang of Eight, a select group made up of the House and Senate leaders from both parties, and the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees, after the operation was completed.
Top Trump officials are set to provide the first classified briefing soon to the Gang of Eight to answer questions about the operation to bring Maduro and his wife to the United States to face drug trafficking charges, and the administration’s next steps in Venezuela. Asked if he understood what President Trump meant when he said the U.S. would now “run” Venezuela, Thune said: “I’m hoping to find out more.”
The United States was condemned at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday for what even its staunch allies called a violation of international law in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela and the military incursion into a sovereign state.
The deputy French ambassador denounced the assault and Mr. Maduro’s apprehension, saying it “chips away at the very foundation of international order.”
Nearly 200 Special Operations troops carried out the pre-dawn raid in Caracas on Saturday that seized President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday, revealing for the first time the size of the commando team dispatched to capture the Venezuelan leader. The Pentagon had previously said 150 aircraft were involved in the raid, but had not disclosed the number of ground troops involved.
Reporting from Caracas, Venezuela
As Venezuela’s National Assembly gathered for the session where Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim leader and reiterated her support for Nicolás Maduro, a pro-Maduro demonstration was taking place near Parliament in Caracas. Venezuelan national TV aired video of a crowd waving flags and holding up Maduro action figures, but it was difficult to tell how many people were present from the footage.
Outside the Manhattan courthouse, dozens of demonstrators — both for and against President Nicolás Maduros’s capture — shouted at one another across a metal barrier the police set up to keep them separated. Some protesters saw Maduro’s day in court as a reckoning for years of oppressive rule, while others felt his arrest demonstrated American imperialism and could set off another “forever war” for the United States.
Reporting from Washington
Top Trump administration officials are scheduled on Monday afternoon to provide the first classified briefing for congressional leaders on the military raid that captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife over the weekend, carried out in Venezuela without informing or consulting with Congress.
The briefing is to include a select group known as the Gang of Eight — the House and Senate leaders from both parties, along with the chairmen and ranking members of each chamber’s intelligence committees — which is generally alerted to major military operations before, during or immediately after they occur. In this case, the Trump administration left the lawmakers in the dark, a decision that President Trump has said was made out of concern that they would leak details of the operation before it was carried out.
Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim leader, but she reiterated that Maduro was still the president. She said that she was pained by the “illegitimate military aggression” by the United States and that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were being held hostage in the United States.
Two days after being ripped from a Caracas compound, Nicolás Maduro, the captive president of Venezuela, appeared in a Manhattan courthouse and pleaded not guilty to federal charges, declaring himself a “prisoner of war.”
Mr. Maduro, who was seized by Army Delta Force commandos on Saturday and transported to the United States, wore a navy shirt over orange prison garb and headphones for translation. He blinked in the bright lights of the courtroom as he was asked for his plea.
It would be tough to summarize more succinctly the new U.S. foreign policy in the Americas than the message the State Department just posted on X: “This is OUR Hemisphere.”
Reporting from Caracas, Venezuela
James Luckey-Lange, an American traveler who went missing in Venezuela in early December, is being held in the detention center run by the country’s military counterintelligence in Caracas, according to a Venezuelan familiar with the matter.
Mr. Luckey-Lange, a 28-year-old from Staten Island, was detained shortly after crossing into southern Venezuela, a sparsely populated and dangerous area, from Brazil, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the information. Mr. Luckey-Lange was detained by security forces while meeting local musicians, the person added.
Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of Venezuela’s interim leader, said that his primary goal would be to bring back Maduro, whom he called his “brother” and president, and praised the “heroes” who were killed in the U.S. raid on Saturday. He called for unity and dialogue with the opposition, adding, “United, we will win.”
Maduro’s son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, pledged his unconditional support to Delcy Rodríguez, the interim leader. “Count on me, count on my family, and count on our firmness in taking the right steps forward in this responsibility you have been given today.” His voice breaking, he addressed his father: “The homeland is in good hands, dad, and we will hug each other soon here in Venezuela.”
S&P 500
Oil stocks surged on Monday as investors grappled with the potential consequences of the Trump administration’s military intervention in Venezuela.
The energy sector of the S&P 500 rose 2.7 percent, helping lift the overall index 0.6 percent. It was led by gains of 9.2 percent for the refiner Valero Energy Corporation, which is thought to benefit from an increase in heavy oils to refine from Venezuela. The oil service company SLB Limited (formerly known as Schlumberger), which assists the major oil companies by manufacturing and maintaining the infrastructure used for extracting oil, rose 9 percent.
In Caracas, the National Assembly ratified Jorge Rodríguez as its president. He is the brother of Venezuela’s new interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez. Like his sister, he highlighted his allegiance to Maduro. He took the floor of the assembly and invited Maduro’s son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, and a son of Cilia Flores, the elder Maduro’s wife and co-defendant, to join him as he unveiled a portrait of Maduro and Flores.
As Maduro rose to leave the courtroom, a man in the gallery told him in Spanish that he would pay for his crimes. Maduro responded that he would win his freedom.
In court, Cilia Flores wore a bandage on her forehead and had what looked to be bruising near her right eye. When she stood up to enter her plea, she appeared to hold onto a U.S. marshal for support.
As he was leaving the courtroom, Maduro said in Spanish, “I am a prisoner of war.”
The arraignment has concluded. It was a routine legal proceeding, belying the extraordinary circumstances underlying it. It also offered a memorable snapshot of an ousted leader being shaken into a stark new reality.
In Caracas, Stalin González, an opposition politician, stood in the National Assembly to demand the freeing of political prisoners and a halt to the persecution of dissidents. He said the opposition was not giving a blank check to any transition of power, calling instead for a collaborative approach.
Judge Hellerstein says he will see everyone in court on March 17 for the next hearing. The defendants are being led out.
Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, says Maduro has health problems that will require attention, and Flores’s lawyer says she has more severe injuries that will also need attention. Neither gave specifics.
Pollock notes he may file motions concerning Maduro’s role as the head of a sovereign state, and adds that “there are questions about the legality of his military abduction.”
Barry Pollack, Maduro’s lawyer, said he was “not seeking release at this time” on bail but that he may later.
Maduro, having been blocked from speaking freely, is more tentatively testing his limits here in court. He tells the judge that he “would like to ask that my notes be respected and that I be allowed to keep them.” Judge Hellerstein, sounding a little surprised, says, “I believe you are entitled to keep them.”
At initial hearings, a prosecutor usually summarizes the evidence in the case, like recordings, documents and other materials seized in searches. We may hear that soon from Kyle A. Wirshba, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Hellerstein asks what would usually be rudimentary, housekeeping questions: the date and time of the arrest. The prosecutor responds that the defendants entered law enforcement custody on 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 3. He does not mention the military raid on foreign soil that led to that apprehension.
As his wife stands in court, Maduro sits back in his chair, his arms on the armrests. Occasionally, he clasps his hands in a prayer motion and lowers his head. He’s fidgeting and glancing around, then bowing his head.
The judge turns to Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife and co-defendant. She says she pleads “not guilty, completely innocent.”
Maduro, in response to questions from the judge, says he had not seen the indictment before appearing in court and he does not know his rights. This suggests that he and his lawyer may not have had much time to discuss the case before the hearing.
“I’m innocent. I’m not guilty. I am a decent man,” Maduro says, when asked for his plea. “I am still president of my country.” His lawyer clarifies that he is pleading not guilty to all four counts against him.
Maduro says he has the indictment in his hands “for the very first time.” Judge Hellerstein asks, “Would you like me to read it to you?” Maduro responds through an interpreter, “I would rather read it personally.”
What we’re seeing here, immediately, is a remarkable collision with reality for the captive Venezuelan president. He clearly intended to make a personal statement about his situation; instead, he was forced to conform to the rules of the courtroom, where the judge is the highest authority.
Maduro is standing and speaking in Spanish, saying he was captured at his home in Caracas, Venezuela. As he starts speaking rapidly, Judge Hellerstein interrupts, telling him, “There will be time and place to get into all of this,” and that for now he is asking only for his identity. Maduro repeats that he is, in fact, Nicolás Maduro Moros.
The judge asks Maduro to identify himself. Maduro does so, in Spanish, calling himself the president of the republic of Venezuela, and saying he is here, “kidnapped.”
Judge Hellerstein says that it is his job to ensure a fair proceeding and a fair trial, if it comes to that. “That’s my job and that’s my intent,” he says. He is now summarizing the indictment.
Initial hearings in criminal cases are often brief, particularly if detention is not at issue. Under the circumstances, Judge Hellerstein, who is 92, is almost certain to order that Maduro and his wife be held without bond pending trial.
Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein has entered the courtroom and the proceeding is beginning. Maduro has appeared, wearing a short-sleeve navy shirt over orange jail garb and earphones, likely for translation. His hair is streaked with gray. His wife, Cilia Flores, who is sitting two seats away from him, is in a similar navy and orange outfit.
We’re reporting from the federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan where Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are set to be arraigned momentarily. The proceeding, at which the charges will be formally unveiled, is expected to be short, though there’s never any telling what may happen. Maduro is charged in a narco-terrorism conspiracy and a conspiracy to import cocaine, among other charges, and will likely plead not guilty.
Reporting from Caracas, Venezuela
In Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, public transportation is up and running and some people have gone back to work, but classes are not in session and there are fewer people than usual on the streets. Security forces closed some streets around the National Assembly.
Mark E. Donnelly, a lawyer from Hou
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