As RedState reported, on Monday, deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his bride Celia Flores were arraigned in United States District Court in the Southern District of New York on charges of Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.
Maduro and Flores were apprehended and arrested in Venezuela, early Saturday morning, in a surprise joint operation which was, as my colleague streiff attested, "a military tour de force." The execution by the U.S. military and federal and local law enforcement arms was as near flawless as one could get. As streiff also attested, the political execution was also quite impressive.
Read More: Update: Maduro Lands in New York to Face Justice, Now Heading to NYC
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Maduro and his bride were flown on a Department of Justice 757 to Stewart International Airport outside of New York City, then deplaned and transferred to a helicopter, where they were airlifted to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Both were processed and incarcerated pending the Monday arraignment.
As my colleague Mike Miller reported, Maduro had a bit of a tantrum at the arraignment, claiming (in Spanish) that he was the rightful ruler of Venezuela and that he had been kidnapped. Maduro further claimed he was a "prisoner of war," and "a Man of God." Maduro got a taste of the United States criminal justice system as well as what it's like to no longer be in charge. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein quickly shut him down and moved the proceeding forward. When Flores was asked to enter her plea, she declared that she is "completely innocent."
And I have some oil leases in Venezuela to sell you.
Dive Deeper: Let's Take a Closer Look at That Maduro Indictment
'Kidnapped' Maduro Launches Indignant Outburst in Court - the Judge Wasn't Having It
While Flores is not being charged for narco-terrorism, she was no "First Lady" or unengaged partner. Flores was a power broker in her own right, exerting a behind-the-scenes stranglehold on Venezuela's institutions, which allowed Maduro and his cabinet to execute their reign of terror and suppression with impunity.
Far more than a first lady, Ms. Flores is one of Venezuela’s most powerful political figures. She built extraordinary influence over decades while largely operating from the shadows. Ms. Flores shaped a judicial system in which nearly every major decision ran through her and embedded state institutions with relatives and loyalists, according to journalists, analysts and former officials. At the same time, they noted, her family amassed vast, unexplained wealth.
A lawyer from a lower middle class background, Ms. Flores began her political rise in the 1990s, becoming close to Hugo Chávez — the former president who was Mr. Maduro’s mentor and predecessor — while he was imprisoned after a failed coup attempt in 1992. She steadily climbed the ranks of Chávez’s socialist movement, known as chavismo, becoming a central figure in Venezuela’s legislature.
Ms. Flores and Mr. Maduro have been partners since at least the late 1990s, when both were lawmakers. They married in 2013, the year he became president. After Mr. Chávez’s death, she was widely seen as critical to consolidating and sustaining Mr. Maduro’s hold on power, bringing a loyal political base and deep institutional influence.
We talk a lot about Maduro but people seem like they dont know who Cilia Flores is, she might seem tiny but this woman is mighty she led the lawyers that liberated Chavez from prison in 1994. Cilia the First Combatant she is the definition of what Chavismo stand for. pic.twitter.com/MEchV1pzsq
— Myriam Kane 🍉 (@ArameKane5) January 5, 2026
ICYMI: Madre de Dios! Corrupt Dictator Maduro Is Gone After Trump Warned Him
Maduro and Flores have essentially been taken off the board. However, Maduro loyalists in his cabinet remain in power, including the former vice president, now-"acting president" Delcy Rodriguez.
Watch as Delcy Rodriguez, former vice president, is sworn in as Venezuela's new leaderhttps://t.co/QqZybFuKDe
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 5, 2026
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/W9TIr2ZpQU
Venezuelan-American journalist Mariana Atencio was adamant in a Bloomberg interview that Rodriguez and three other Chavismo cabinet members must be removed from power before the Venezuelan people could experience true freedom, democracy, and restoration of their country.
WATCH:
Worth listening to Mariana Atencio, native Venezuelan journalist, on what the people in Venezuela actually wanted when it came to Maduro. pic.twitter.com/M28fO8lWMn
— amit (@amitisinvesting) January 3, 2026
Venezuela will not be free until Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge Rodríguez Gómez, Vladimir Padrino López and Diosdado Cabello, considered the fundamental pillars of the power structure in Caracas are captured. Maduro was just the clown of the drug dictatorship. They direct the repression. pic.twitter.com/37KHH6bb80
— 🇺🇦 Mїguel Loureїro 🇺🇦 (@Miguel_L71) January 3, 2026
As my colleague Nick Arama wrote:
As amazing as the operation was, it's the second part - restoring the country to freedom - that is going to be more involved.
Trump indicated that they expected cooperation from Maduro's vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, although that's obviously problematic since she was part of the Maduro regime. She initially made comments condemning Maduro's capture.
But Trump indicated that if she didn't cooperate, she would face a fate worse than Maduro. And remember, we've already established that when Trump says things, he doesn't play around, as Maduro found out. In one interview, he said she could “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.” He reiterated to reporters on the plane returning to the White House on Sunday that if she didn't do what was right, "she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro."
This no doubt precipitated this seeming "change of heart" by Rodriguez. She posted this photo and message, in English and Spanish, on her Instagram:
A message from Venezuela to the world, and to the United States:
Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to peace and peaceful coexistence. Our country aspires to live without external threats, in an environment of respect and international cooperation. We believe that global peace is built by first guaranteeing peace within each nation.
We prioritise moving towards balanced and respectful international relations between the United States and Venezuela, and between Venezuela and other countries in the region, premised on sovereign equality and non-interference. These principles guide our diplomacy with the rest of the world.
We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.
President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. This has always been President Nicolás Maduro’s message, and it is the message of all of Venezuela right now. This is the Venezuela I believe in and have dedicated my life to. I dream of a Venezuela where all good Venezuelans can come together.
Venezuela has the right to peace, development, sovereignty and a future.
Delcy Rodríguez
Acting President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Rodriguez may be putting on a cooperative front, but Venezuelans who have experienced and witnessed the evils wrought under Maduro's "Chavismo" are sounding alarm bells.
What about Delcy herself?
— Daniel Di Martino 🇺🇸🇻🇪 (@DanielDiMartino) December 5, 2025
She has been involved in countless corruption scandals but the important thing to know about her is that she is no moderate. She just wants to remain in power and keep stealing, something that everyone knows won't happen under democracy.s
A cornered animal is sometimes the most dangerous. So, whether Trump's threat has struck fear in her heart or simply strengthened her resolve to maintain the reins of power remains to be seen.
Rodriguez's brother, Jorge Rodriguez, is also deeply embedded in Chavismo's ideology. Brother Rodriguez was reappointed as the President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, the legislative arm of the government. According to a post on the National Assembly website (translated from Spanish), Rodriguez pledged, "legal and political actions for the release of President Maduro."
The president of the National Assembly (AN), deputy Jorge Rodríguez (PSUV/Capital District), announced that he will undertake legal and political actions for the release of the constitutional president of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, and the first lady Cilia Flores de Maduro, kidnapped by the US empire after a military aggression in Venezuela on January 3.
“My main function in the days to come, my function as a man, as a deputy, as president of this National Assembly, will be to resort to all procedures, all platforms and all spaces to bring back Nicolás Maduro Moros,” the parliamentarian expressed this Monday, during the installation of the 2026-2031 legislative constitutional period.
Rodríguez stated that, with his own abilities, efforts, and desires, he will not stop, even in the face of the greatest obstacles, to ensure that President Maduro and his wife return to Venezuela. He urged the people to have confidence in the political leadership.
"At this difficult time for our country, when the population is wondering what our destiny will be and what will become of our leaders, let us say, let us have confidence, that together we will always prevail," he emphasized.
Doesn't evoke the "balanced and respectful international relations" his sister claims are occurring. The coming days will reveal on which side their bread is buttered.
Vladimir Padrino López is Maduro's longest-serving cabinet member. In his role as Defense Minister, López oversees all military operations and is also the engineer of the humanitarian crisis of the Venezuelan people. Like Maduro, López has a bounty on his head as he has long been considered the architect of the narco-terrorism and trafficking for which Venezuela has become the nexus.
Agregar a Vladimir Padrino López
— Shary (@SharySirey) August 8, 2025
Total Bounty : $90M pic.twitter.com/apkd4RFD1A
The last cabinet member in question is considered by many to be the most diabolical. Maduro's No. 2, and supposed "Minister of Interior, Justice, and Peace," Diosdado Cabello Rondón.
Diosdado Cabello Rondón is currently Nicolás Maduro Moros’ so-called minister of interior, justice, and peace, having oversight over Venezuela’s police forces and prisons. After Maduro fraudulently declared victory in the July 2024 presidential election despite evidence to the contrary, Maduro purported to appoint Cabello to this position. The U.S. government does not recognize Maduro as the winner of the election and does not recognize Cabello as a minister of the government of Venezuela. Cabello Rondón has also served as the former president of Venezuela’s Constituent National Assembly, President and Vice-President of Venezuela, and is an active member of the Venezuelan armed forces with the rank of Captain.
International and domestic reports are prognosticating that Cabello Rondón is the one most likely to mount a counter-offensive against the United States.
"You can remove as many pieces of the Venezuelan government as you like, but it would have to be multiple actors at different levels to move the needle," said a former U.S. official involved in criminal investigations in Venezuela
A big question mark surrounds Cabello, who exerts influence over the country's military and civilian counterintelligence agencies, which conduct widespread domestic espionage.
"The focus is now on Diosdado Cabello," said Venezuelan military strategist Jose Garcia. "Because he is the most ideological, violent and unpredictable element of the Venezuelan regime."
Certain journalists, analysts, and watchers are saying the Trump administration has made a terrible calculation and are crying foul.
El chavismo es una estructura blindada de intereses militares y económicos que llevan años consolidadas.
— Maria Elena Morera (@MaElenaMorera) January 3, 2026
Sin un plan de transición soberano y previo, la captura no trae democracia, sino un vacío de poder que figuras como Diosdado Cabello o Vladimir Padrino López están listos… pic.twitter.com/yLIS9Ndoy5
English translation:
Chavismo is an armored structure of military and economic interests that have been consolidated for years.
Without a sovereign and prior transition plan, the capture does not bring democracy, but a power vacuum that figures like Diosdado Cabello or Vladimir Padrino López are ready to fill, and they are possibly much more radical.
Even though Vice President Delcy Rodríguez told Marco Rubio that she is willing to cooperate with the USA, she is as illegitimate as Maduro.
As an ancient proverb goes, "May you live in interesting times."
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