Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Indicted on Drug, Weapons Charges

10:30 AM PST —  President Donald Trump said Venezuela VP Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as the president of Venezuela — when asked about her, Trump said, “She’s, I guess, the president” and said she was “picked by Maduro.”

He claimed she will work with the U.S., adding … “She had a long conversation with Marco [Rubio] and said we’ll do what you need. She had no choice.”

She previously denounced America’s military involvement and Maduro’s capture.

9:16 AM PST —  President Donald Trump has announced that he plans to “run” the country of Venezuela “until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” in a press briefing Saturday morning. His announcement comes after the U.S. military captured the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, who are being transported to America on drug and weapons charges.

Trump did not offer how the United States would oversee Venezuela but noted he has his eyes set on Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. He suggested American oil companies can rebuild the country’s energy infrastructure and consequently regaining rights to the oil there, adding … “It’s going to make a lot of money.”

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted on drug and weapons charges following their overnight capture by the United States military.

As you know, President Donald Trump said Saturday the pair was taken by U.S. troops and is currently on a warship en route to New York to face charges, which can carry a hefty prison sentence if found guilty.

The commander-in-chief also shared a photo of him in custody on the USS Iwo Jima looking quite comfy in a matching sweatsuit and a bottle of water in his hand.

In the indictment unsealed Saturday, Maduro and his co-conspirators have been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices.

The charges are the same as in a 2020 indictment against Maduro. The 2020 version named 5 defendants, while the new one names 6 — including Maduro’s wife and son, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra. The minister of the interior, Diosdado Cabello Rondon, is named in both as well, while 2 new defendants were added in the new document. 3 people listed on 2020’s indictment were dropped.

Trump had pressured Maduro and his government to clean up their act for months before he launched several military strikes and took Maduro and his wife captive. He has long accused Maduro of funneling drugs and gang members designated as terrorist organizations into America.

In the indictment, Maduro and his co-conspirators are accused of using his “illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States” and tarnishing “every public office he has held.” He specifically accused Maduro and Flores of organizing their “own groups of state-sponsored gangs known as ‘colectivos’ to facilitate and protect their drug trafficking operation.”