Updated at\u00a003.20 EST<\/p>\n
Oil price falls after US attack on Venezuela<\/p>\n
Markets are reacting to the turmoil over Venezuela and the US actions, with investors seeking the safe haven of gold and buying up shares in defence companies. But with Donald Trump<\/a> making Venezuela\u2019s oil reserves central to his plans for the country, the price of crude is falling. You can follow the market reaction in our business blog with my colleague, Graeme Wearden, here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.21 EST<\/p>\n Prosecutors say Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> is the kingpin of a cartel of Venezuelan political and military officials who have conspired for decades with drug trafficking groups and US-designated terrorist organisations to flood America with thousands of tonnes of cocaine.<\/p>\n As Reuters reports, Maduro was first indicted in 2020 as part of a long-running narcotics trafficking case against current and former Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas.<\/p>\n In a new indictment unsealed Saturday, prosecutors allege that Maduro personally oversaw a state-sponsored cocaine trafficking network that partnered with some of the world\u2019s most violent and prolific drug trafficking groups, including Mexico\u2019s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, the Colombian paramilitary group FARC and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.<\/p>\n Maduro is charged with narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. He faces decades to life in prison on each count if convicted.<\/p>\n Legal experts said prosecutors face a difficult task, needing to show evidence of Maduro\u2019s direct involvement in drug trafficking to secure a conviction.<\/p>\n Maduro has denied wrongdoing, and it could be several months before he stands trial.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.57 EST<\/p>\n Nicol\u00e1s Maduro is set to appear in Manhattan federal court later today to face narco-terrorism charges.<\/p>\n Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, are in jail in Brooklyn after their seizure by US forces.<\/p>\n They are both set to appear at the hearing scheduled for Noon EST (5pm GMT ) before US District Judge Alvin K Hellerstein.<\/p>\n It is unclear if either had obtained lawyers, or if they would enter pleas.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s president was captured, flown to the US and is now facing trial in New York. What does the audacious ouster of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro mean for the country \u2013 and the world?<\/p>\n Find out in our podcast here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.21 EST<\/p>\n Petro tells Trump to ‘stop slandering me’<\/p>\n Colombian president Gustavo Petro has rejected threats by Donald Trump and the US president\u2019s accusations that he is drug trafficker.<\/p>\n Trump on Sunday threatened Colombia with similar military action to the weekend raid against Venezuela<\/a>, saying Colombia was \u201crun by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States\u201d but that he \u201cis not going to be doing it very long\u201d.<\/p>\n Petro rebuffed the accusations, saying his \u201cname does not appear in court records\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cStop slandering me, Mr. Trump,\u201d Petro said on X on Sunday.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not how you threaten a Latin American president who emerged from the armed struggle and then from the people of Colombia\u2019s fight for Peace.<\/p>\n Petro has harshly criticised the Trump administration\u2019s military action in the region and accused Washington of abducting Maduro \u201cwithout legal basis\u201d, as Agence France-Presse reports. In a later post to X on Sunday, Petro added that \u201cfriends do not bomb\u201d.<\/p>\n Gustavo Ptero is a former guerrilla and Colombia\u2019s first leftwing president. Photograph: Carlos Ortega\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.46 EST<\/p>\n Analysis: European leaders appear torn in face of new world order European leaders emerged divided and torn as they tried to welcome the ejection of Venezuela\u2019s authoritarian president but still uphold the principles of international law that did not appear to allow Donald Trump to seize Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, let alone declare that the US will run Venezuela and control its oil industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n Europe tried to focus on the principle of a democratic transition, pointing out that the continent had not recognised Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela since what were widely regarded as fraudulent elections in June 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Trump\u2019s rejection of the Nobel prize-winning Venezuelan opposition figurehead, Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, was awkward. Trump said she did not have support or respect in Venezuela<\/a>, but European leaders have embraced her as leading an opposition that deserves power.<\/p>\n You can read the full analysis here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Donald Trump has threatened a second American strike on Venezuela if remaining members of its government do not cooperate with his efforts to get the country \u201cfixed\u201d.<\/p>\n In comments aboard Air Force One, the president also says the US is now \u201cin charge\u201d of Venezuela<\/a> and praises the US forces involved in what he called a \u201cvery dangerous operation\u201d to capture Maduro.<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.40 EST<\/p>\n Keir Starmer has said when asked if he would condemn the US action in Venezuela that he wants to wait to \u201cestablish the facts\u201d and speak to Donald Trump, while insisting the UK would \u201cshed no tears\u201d over the end of Maduro\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n However, some of the British prime minister\u2019s own MPs have been more outspoken, criticising America\u2019s actions as a breach of international law.<\/p>\n Labour MP Kim Johnson questioned whether \u201cwe as a country still stand for international law and sovereignty\u201d, while her colleague Richard Burgon described Starmer\u2019s statement as \u201cshameful and reckless\u201d.<\/p>\n Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said that \u201ceffectively our country has been rendered up as a Trump colony\u201d, accusing the government of \u201cprevarication\u201d.<\/p>\n In a post on X, Labour MP Clive Lewis said of the US military operation: \u201cA clear breach of the Nuremberg principles \u2013 which the UK helped write.<\/p>\n Now a [Labour government] won\u2019t even defend them. This silence isn\u2019t diplomacy. It\u2019s the moral equivalent of a white flag.<\/p>\n Keir Starmer picks up UK-US trade deal papers dropped by Donald Trump before speaking to the media at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, last June. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.25 EST<\/p>\n Opening summary<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to our live coverage after US forces seized Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in Caracas and took him to the US to face drug charges.<\/p>\n Donald Trump said after the military operation early on Saturday that the US would \u201crun\u201d Venezuela and warned on Sunday that the US might launch a second strike if the government\u2019s remaining members did not cooperate with his efforts to get the country \u201cfixed\u201d.<\/p>\n Venezuelan vice-president and Maduro ally Delcy Rodr\u00edguez has been appointed acting president and offered \u201cto collaborate\u201d with the Trump administration<\/a> in what could be a major shift in relations between the governments.<\/p>\n In a conciliatory message on Instagram on Sunday she said she hoped to build \u201crespectful relations\u201d with Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said.<\/p>\n Venezuelan acting president Delcy Rodriguez (C) beside Vladimir Padrino (L) and Diosdado Cabello during the council of ministers meeting in Caracas on Sunday. Photograph: Marcelo Garcia\/Miraflores press office\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Patrick-Wintour,-R.png\")
Patrick Wintour<\/p>\n![\"\u2018We\u2019re](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4708.jpg\")
\u2018We\u2019re in charge\u2019: Trump reiterates the US will run Venezuela after Maduro’s removal – videoShare<\/a><\/p>\n