Venezuela accuses the US of murdering "in cold blood" a large part of Maduro's security team

BarcelonaDuring the hours after the United States operation to capture Nicolás Maduro And his wife, Cilia Flores, one of the questions was how it had been possible, given the enormous security detail surrounding the Venezuelan president. This Sunday, information began to emerge suggesting that the elite agents who participated in the military incursion caused a massacre. Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López reported that "a large part" of Maduro's security team was killed "in cold blood," although he did not give an exact number of casualties.

The death toll is estimated to be around 80 people, including civilians and members of the security forces, according to reports. New York TimesAccording to an official source in the country, the number of casualties could still be higher. So far, no official tally has been released, and the Trump administration has only stated that there were no casualties among the US forces.

The day after the US operation, nothing is clear about Donald Trump's plans in the country, but from Caracas, the main figures of the regime have made it clear that they support the Chavista leader and that, for the moment, there is no willingness to undertake a political transition. Vice President and current acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, and the Venezuelan armed forces have called for the release of Maduro, who They consider him the only legitimate president of VenezuelaThe Minister of Defense has called on citizens to resume their economic, work, and educational activities. As if nothing had happened.

Maduro, in prison

Meanwhile, Maduro spent his first night at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in New York, the high-security federal prison where he is being held. The Chavista leader and his wife arrived in New York by plane. He was then taken to the offices of the DEA (the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) in Manhattan before finally being transferred to prison. During these journeys, which took place by land and air, several videos of the Venezuelan president were recorded. In all of them, he can be seen walking with a limp. In fact, there is speculation that he was injured during his capture, specifically when he unsuccessfully tried to access a secure cell. In these videos, Maduro says "Happy New Year" and "Good night" in English to the people he encounters.

The Metropolitan Detention Center in New York is one of the most famous prisons in the US. Prominent figures such asEl ChapoGuzmán, the rapper SeanDiddyCombs and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. It is one of the most notorious detention centers in New York—it has even been dubbed a "hell on Earth"—and has been the subject of complaints about understaffing, crime within its facilities, and harsh living conditions in the cells. There are some 1,300 inmates who, like Maduro, are awaiting trial. One of the inmates who passed through was Ghislaine Maxwell, associate and accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, who denounced the "inhuman, cruel, and degrading" conditions.

The MCD is the usual stopover point for detainees awaiting trial in the federal courts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, where alleged gangsters and drug traffickers are held, along with some people accused of white-collar crimes. The court where Maduro will appear is a federal court in the Southern District of New York, which typically handles drug trafficking cases. The Chavista leader was charged with four crimes, including narcoterrorism. In a statement, the court confirmed that Maduro and Flores are scheduled to appear before Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein this Monday at noon (6 p.m. in Catalonia). US Attorney General Pam Bondi released the new indictment against Maduro and Cilia Flores on Saturday, outlining the charges against them. The 25-page document accuses the president and his wife of abusing their positions of public trust and corrupting institutions for more than 25 years to import drugs into the United States. Maduro is accused of four federal charges: narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess those same devices in support of criminal activities, as well as collaborating with criminal organizations designated as terrorist groups by Washington.

"Maduro and his accomplices have associated for decades with some of the world's most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narcoterrorists, and have relied on corrupt officials throughout the region to distribute tons of cocaine into the United States," the text states. Cilia Flores faces charges related to alleged logistical and financial support operations for the criminal organization itself, according to court documents cited by U.S. media.

Sounds of the Past

Maduro is the first sitting Latin American president to be tried on US soil. But his case is reminiscent of those of other former leaders in the region, such as Panama's Manuel Noriega—kidnapped in 1989 during a US invasion—and Juan Orlando Hernández, former president of Honduras, both convicted of drug trafficking. Hernández was extradited to the US in April 2022, three months after leaving office, and was sentenced in June 2024 to 45 years in prison for importing tons of cocaine into the United States, the same charge Maduro now faces. However, the former Honduran president was pardoned by Trump this past December, in the midst of a White House campaign to influence the presidential elections in the Central American country in favor of the conservative candidate Nasry Asfura.