Eyes shut, in custody: Trump shares first image of Maduro aboard US warship

Washington/Caracas: US President Donald Trump on Saturday shared what he described as the first image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro aboard the US warship USS Iwo Jima, hours after Washington claimed it had captured the Latin American leader during military operations.

The United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington, an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.

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The stunning, lightning-fast American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.

Maduro and his wife, captured overnight from their home, were being transported via a U.S. warship to New York, where they were to face criminal charges. The U.S. is now evaluating next steps for Venezuela, Trump said Saturday on Fox News, “We’ll be involved in it very much.”

In a Saturday morning interview on “Fox and Friends Weekend,” Trump laid out the details of the overnight strike, after which he said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were flown by helicopter to a U.S. warship.

Trump described Maduro as being “highly guarded" in a presidential palace that was “like a fortress,” although the Venezuelan leader was not able to get to a safe room.

American forces were armed with “massive blowtorches,” which they would have used to cut through steel walls had Maduro locked himself in the room, Trump said.

“It had what they call a safety space, where it’s solid steel all around,” Trump said. “He didn’t get that space closed. He was trying to get into it, but he got bum-rushed right so fast that he didn’t get into that. We were prepared.”

Meanwhile, Russia urged the US to release Maduro. "We strongly urge the American leadership to reconsider its position and release the legally elected president of the sovereign country and his wife," the Russian foreign ministry said.

In a series of statements, the ministry called for dialogue between Washington and Venezuela's leftist government and expressed "solidarity" with Venezuela's people. It stopped short, however, of offering immediate military or financial assistance to its ally.

"This morning, the United States committed an act of armed aggression against Venezuela. This is deeply concerning and condemnable," the ministry said in a statement.

"The pretexts used to justify such actions are untenable. Ideological hostility has triumphed over businesslike pragmatism," it added.