Maduro and wife to be charged in US; Caricom, world react to US military action

Caricom is said to be “actively monitoring” the situation in Venezuela following reports of the arrest and removal of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife during US military action.

The Conference of Heads of Government convened an early morning meeting on Saturday after which it issued a statement in which it described the situation as one of grave concern and warned of possible implications for neighbouring countries.

The bloc said it would continue to update people across the region as more information becomes available.

Protests have since erupted in the Venezuelan capital. Caracas Mayor Carmen Meléndez joined demonstrators calling for Maduro’s immediate return.

“Maduro, hold on, the people are rising up!” the crowd chanted. They also said: “We are here Nicolás Maduro. If you can hear us, we are here!”

Elsewhere, residents were still coming to terms with the unfolding events.

“How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking down at his phone.

“Venezuelans woke up scared, many families couldn’t sleep. I have been on the street, I just got back from Maracay, everything is blocked, everything is bad, very bad.”

“They impose the law,” electrician Alfonso Valdez said of the US government. “They are the police of the world … they are assassins.”

Meanwhile, US Attorney General Pam Bondi has said the Venezuelan President and his wife will face criminal charges following an indictment in New York.

In a social media post, Bondi vowed that the couple would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.” Maduro was indicted in New York in 2020, although it was not previously known that his wife had also been indicted.

International reaction has been swift. Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a US “act of armed aggression”.

In a statement posted on its Telegram channel on Saturday, it said, “Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive, let alone military, outside intervention.”

The ministry called for dialogue to prevent further escalation and said it reaffirmed its “solidarity” with the Venezuelan people and government, adding that Russia supports calls for an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

In Colombia, President Gustavo Petro, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest critics, said the government convened a national security meeting before dawn on Saturday and deployed security forces to the border in preparation for a potential “massive influx of refugees” from neighbouring Venezuela.

Petro said he would also call on the UN Security Council to consider “the aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and of Latin America.”

“Without sovereignty, there is no nation,” he wrote on social media. (BT/AP)