The Capture of Nicolás Maduro: A Nation in Flux

REPORTER:  

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro descends a plane in the US state of New York surrounded by law enforcement. Hours ago, he was thousands of kilometers away in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. But a US mission has captured him—and he now faces a range of charges including “narco-terrorism conspiracy”. What comes next for Maduro’s country is hard to say.  

REPORTER:  

US President Donald Trump offered few details about his administration’s plan. But he says the US will, quote, “run” Venezuela for the time being with a focus on the country’s oil infrastructure.  

Donald Trump (US PRESIDENT): 

The infrastructure is old. It's rotted. Much of it is stuff that we put there 25 years ago, and we're going to be replacing it. And we're going to take a lot of money out so that we can take care of the country.

REPORTER:  

Trump says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. Multiple sources say she is in Russia, though. And so, after more than twelve years with Maduro in charge, Venezuela is in flux.  

REPORTER:  

Reaction has been immediate and sharp, especially around Latin America.  

REPORTER:  

Close to eight million people have fled abroad under Maduro’s presidency as Venezuela’s economy and human rights situation suffered. Among these anti-Maduro exiles, there’s jubilation.  

Venezuelan Exile:  

It's a joy, an emotion, like I was telling you right now, it's something you carry in your heart, locked up for years. We want a free country, we want to get out of this government, we want to have a future. The youth, well us, the youth who want to have freedom in our country, to express ourselves, to say what we feel, to have a dream.

REPORTER:  

But cities like Buenos Aires saw protests against what some see as a fresh act of US imperialism in a region where it has toppled governments in the past—most recently in Panama in 1989.  

Latin American Protester: 

We stand against the Yankee bombings with the same conviction with which we confronted and supported the Venezuelan people's struggle against the Maduro dictatorship. We are clear: peace will not come with the United States' killer bombs.

REPORTER:  

In the US, too, views are sharply split. In New York’s Times Square, filled just days before with New Year revelers, some Donald Trump critics gathered to condemn the US intervention.  

Trump Critic:  

His only interest is oil and greed and corruption, and that is who he allies himself with, and that is what he is. He's a greedy, corrupt, criminal and he doesn't speak for me and for most of America, I would say.

REPORTER:  

But there are also some who want the US to punish Maduro harshly—and criticize those who are protesting. 

US Maduro Opponent:  

These people here aren't Venezuelan. None of these people here are from Venezuela. They're being paid. These people don't know anything. They're supporting Maduro.

REPORTER:  

Amid all this reaction are broader concerns about what this means for the international order—and the rules that are supposed to uphold it and check the use of force.  

International Affairs Expert:  

But this is a slap in the face of those rules saying that somehow President Trump gets to decide what is the right to use military force and that is going to cause great dissension in the world.

REPORTER:  

For Maduro, maybe held somewhere in this police convoy, this might be the end of the road. But for Venezuela and the world, it could be the start of a deeply uncertain chapter