Venezuela’s foreign minister Yván Gil Pinto has requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting after U.S. leader Donald Trump captured President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores over alleged involvement in drug-smuggling.
“No cowardly attack will prevail against the strength of this people, who will emerge victorious,” CNN cited Mr Pinto as writing on Telegram with an attachment of the letter sent to the UN.
The Venezuelan government believes the U.S. only achieved a “partial” success of its intended goal, with Mr Maduro’s arrest. Vice President for Policy, Citizen Security and Peace Diosdado Cabello asserted that Mr Trump’s administration intended to destabilise the Latin nation and its people.
“What they tried to achieve with the bombs and missiles they launched, they only partially succeeded in doing,” Mr Cabello said. “And I say partially because they expected the people to perhaps run wildly, cowardly. No.”
Hours after several explosions rocked Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, hitting military facilities and even airports, Mr Trump on Saturday said U.S. forces carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” adding that both Mr Maduro and his wife were being flown out of the Latin nation.
Mr Trump scheduled a press conference for 11 a.m. to shed more light on the matter. He told New York Times that “It was a brilliant operation” given that “a lot of good planning” went into it.
In recent weeks, Mr Trump had staged an aggressive campaign against Mr Maduro, accusing him of complicity in smuggling narcotics into the United States of America. During that period, U.S. forces destroyed several vessels suspected of transporting drugs.
Also, Venezuela Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez and Defense Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, reacted to the development.
Mr Rodríguez, in an audio call to state-run VTV Venezuela, said the government was unaware of Mr Maduro’s whereabouts after U.S. strikes, demanding that Mr Trump show the world that Mr Maduro is alive.
“We demand immediate proof of life from the government of President Donald Trump regarding the lives of President Maduro and the first lady,” Ms Rodríguez said.
Mr López described the U.S. airstrikes as an invasion, adding that it affected civilians.
“This invasion represents the greatest outrage the country has suffered,” Mr López said, adding effort was underway to get number of those affected by U.S. airstrikes.
Earlier on Saturday, Mr Trump announced that Mr Maduro, was captured by U.S. forces months after declaring him wanted for cocaine trafficking to the United States of America.
