Venezuela-Trump latest: Maduro to appear in New York court as president threatens Colombia with military action

Oil prices fell by just less than one percent after trading opened Sunday evening, after the capture of ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.

Analysis from The New York Times suggested that the drop to around $57 per barrel highlights how the South American nation is a relatively small player is in global oil markets.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, on her final day as congresswoman, was the president’s strongest Republican critic on the Sunday show circuit this week in the wake of a stunning U.S. operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro.

The Republican firebrand was on NBC’s Meet the Press for the last time as a member of the House as she argued that President Donald Trump was once again turning away from the domestic agenda she has argued for months is a reason for the his decreasing popularity among his base.

“I am not defending Maduro and of course I am happy for the people of Venezuela to be liberated,” Greene said. “[But] this is the same Washington playbook that we are so sick and tired of, that doesn’t serve the American people, but actually serves the big corporations, the banks, and the oil executives.”

John Bowden has the details.

U.S. president Donald Trump has threatened military action against Colombia’s government, saying the option “sounds good to me”.

“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, in an apparent reference to Colombia’s president Gustavo Petro.

Asked directly whether the U.S. would pursue a military operation against the country, Trump answered, “It sounds good to me.”

The comments came after the United States captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in an audacious raid and whisked him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.

The US sanctioned Petro in the autumn after Trump blamed the leader for failing to curb drug trafficking in the country allowing cartels to “flourish”.

The country had become a refuge to hundreds of Venezuelans who fled Maduro’s rule in recent years.

Venezuelan opposition politician Edmundo Gonzalez called for the country’s military to bring him to power after following the capture and ousting of president Nicolas Maduro.

“Our commitment is: loyalty to the people, to freedom, and to the rule of law,” Gonzalea said, in a post on X translated from Spanish, accompanying a lengthier video message.

“We will never betray our principles; that will be the foundation for the reconstruction of the nation. Venezuela deserves a future with rights and hope.

In the video, Gonzalez, whom many consider to have been the real winner of the 2024 election in Venezuela, referred to himself as “president” of the country.

“This is a historic moment. We face it with calm, clarity and democratic commitment,” he said, also calling for the release of political prisoners held by the Venezuelan government.

Cuba confirmed on Sunday that 32 of its citizens were killed during the U.S. raid on Venezuela to exract president Nicolas Maduro.

The Cuban government declared two days of mourning on 5 and 6 January to honor the people who were killed in the U.S. strikes.

The government said all the people killed were members of the Cuban armed forces and intelligence agencies, but gave few details.

“True to their responsibilities concerning security and defense, our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of bombings on the facilities,” the statement said.

Cuba has provided some security for Maduro since he came to power. It was not clear how many Cubans were guarding the Venezuelan president when they died and how many may have perished elsewhere.

Donald Trump insisted on Sunday night that the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela after American military forces toppled Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.

Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One that his administration was “dealing with the people that just got sworn in,” seemingly referring to acting president Delcy Rodriguez.

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Donald Trump has claimed that the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Maria Corina Machado, would only be able to win an election if she had his backing.

“I don’t think she’s got the support of the people that she has to have,” Trump told The New York Post Sunday. “That’s all.”

The president later added: “She could only win an election if I did support her. But I like her very much.”

Trump also said that Venezuela the country needed to be “run properly” and that elections were a secondary concern.

Machado was the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, an accolade that Trump had mentioned wanting for himself.

Donald Trump has claimed the U.S. is now “in charge” of Venezuela.

“Don’t ask me who’s in charge, because I’ll give you an answer, and it’ll be very controversial,” Trump told reporters Sunday from Air Force One.

Pressed on what the remark meant, he added: “It means we’re in charge. We’re in charge.”

The president also said that the administration was “dealing with the people that just got sworn in,” appearing to refer to Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodríguez, who has since been sworn in as acting president of the South American nation.

Trump said that he has not spoken to Rodriguez personally yet, but previously warned that she would end up “maybe worse” than Maduro if she did not cooperate.

“Venezuela right now is a dead country. We have to bring it back, and we’re gonna have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure ready to go,” Trump said.

In remarks to reporters Sunday night, Donald Trump claimed that Nicolas Maduro had sent “every drug addict in that country… was sent into our country.”

“Think of that every single drug addict from Maduro’s country, which isn’t really his country, and it’s certainly not his country anymore,” he said.

“Every drug addict and every drug dealer has been sent into our country. Now we’re getting them back.”