Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is due to appear in U.S. court today on drug trafficking and corruption charges as questions swirl about the country’s future in the aftermath of his dramatic capture. After U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife in an early Saturday raid, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would “run” Venezuela. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that Trump meant Washington would use a continued oil quarantine as leverage to direct policy in the country. He also said that Maduro’s seizure did not require prior notification to Congress as it was a law enforcement operation. News of the raid caused consternation among some lawmakers, due to be briefed by U.S. officials today.
Zooming in. The U.S. bombings and raid in Caracas reportedly killed at least forty people, thirty-two of them Cuban security personnel. Venezuela’s Supreme Court named Delcy Rodríguez—formerly Maduro’s vice president—acting president on Saturday. That day, she shared a statement denouncing U.S. “military aggression,” while Trump told The Atlantic that Rodríguez would “pay a very big price” if she did not cooperate with the United States. She shifted her tone the next day, posting that Venezuela and the United States should work together “towards shared development.”
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