Nicolás Maduro, the ousted president of Venezuela, arrived in Brooklyn and will be held on drugs and weapons charges. The country’s interim leader demanded his return.
The official said the dead included civilians and military personnel. At least one of the civilians was killed in a U.S. airstrike outside of Caracas, according to her family.
Opponents of the U.S. intervention in Venezuela called it illegal. Supporters celebrated the ouster of Nicolás Maduro, the country’s authoritarian president.
The tactically precise operation successfully extracted Mr. Maduro with no loss of American life, a result heralded by President Trump amid larger questions about the legality and rationale for the U.S. actions in Venezuela.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York accused President Trump of violating international law. It was the first time he had criticized the president since their White House meeting.
President Trump’s pledge that the United States would “run” Venezuela for an indefinite period showed he is willing to enter foreign conflicts he once promised to end.
Opponents of the U.S. intervention in Venezuela called it illegal and warned of a widening war. Supporters celebrated an authoritarian president’s fall.
The operation revives disputes over the legality of the 1989 Panama intervention, enhanced by President Trump’s vow to “run” Venezuela and Nicolás Maduro’s formal status as president.
As the armed civilian groups often used to suppress protests kept a low profile, the role they might play in the country’s new situation remained unclear.
Operating largely from the shadows, Ms. Flores, the first lady of Venezuela, helped consolidate Mr. Maduro’s rule while controlling the judiciary and amassing wealth through corruption, experts say.
Some of the nation’s most influential Democrats condemned the move as unjustified and argued that the president was trying to distract from his domestic challenges.