Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores arrived in New York on Saturday, hours after United States President Donald Trump said they had been captured in an overnight operation, CNN reported.

Trump said that earlier in the day, his country’s military “successfully carried out a large scale strike” against Venezuela and its leader. He said that the US will “run the country” and will seize its massive oil reserves until a “judicious transition” can happen, AP reported.

Earlier, Trump shared on social media a photo of a blindfolded and handcuffed Maduro on his way to the United States.

The United States has accused Maduro of narco terrorism and drug trafficking, among other crimes – allegations that the Venezuelan government rejects.

The Venezuelan government has described the US government’s actions as “military aggression” and has demanded that Maduro and Flores be immediately released.

In the wake of these developments, the Indian government strongly advised citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Venezuela. “All Indians who are in Venezuela for any reason are advised to exercise extreme caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with Embassy of India in Caracas through their email id: cons.caracas@mea.gov.in or the emergency phone number +58-412-9584288” the Indian Embassy in the South American country said.

Here is more on this and other top updates:

  • Maduro was on Saturday taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after he was brought by helicopter to Manhattan, CNN reported. A large crowd had gathered outside the facility, many of them cheering and holding Venezuelan flags. Maduro is expected to face drugs and weapons charges in a federal court next week.
  • While some Venezuelans in the United States celebrated Maduro’s arrest, several others protested with slogans such as “No War on Venezuela” and “US hands off Latin America”, CNN reported. In major cities such as Washington DC, New York, Boston and Chicago, gatherings of up to a hundred protestors marched and waved Venezuelan flags.
  • Maduro, his wife, his son and three others have been charged on four counts, AP reported. These are narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. The authorities have alleged that drug trafficking organisations such as Sinaloa Cartel and Tren de Aragua gang worked directly with the Venezuelan government, and that they sent profits to senior officials who helped them in exchange.
  • New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that unilaterally attacking a sovereign country was an act of war and a violation of federal and international law. “This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home,” Mamdani said on social media. “My focus is their safety and the safety of every New Yorker, and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant guidance.”
  • Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez called Maduro’s capture by the United States as a “kidnapping” and a violation of international law, CNN reported. She maintained that Maduro remained “the sole president of Venezuela.” She called on citizens of the Latin American country to prepare to defend the country. “Not a single Venezuelan man or woman should remain on the sidelines, because the extremists who have provoked this armed aggression against our country will be made to pay by history and justice,” she said.
  • Since late August, the US has put together a major military deployment off the Venezuelan coast with the stated goal of combatting drug trafficking in Latin America, though it has focused on Venezuela. The US is among countries in the West that does not recognise the Maduro government in Venezuela.