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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Untied States forces launched an attack on Venezuela early Saturday morning and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
During a press conference Saturday following the incident, President Donald Trump said U.S forces will remain in the region until further notice.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” President Trump added.
Amid the heightened tension, Luis Jiménez Ph.D, a Political Professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, told WBZ NewsRadio that there are still a lot of uncertainty on what the South American country will do next.
“They already had so much and so many problems,” Jiménez said.
He added that while it is unprecedented for the U.S. to launch an on-the-ground offense like this one, this should be a wakeup call for other Latin America leaders.
“Trump will threaten people all the time, like Greenland for instance,” he continued. “Which [they] seem like idle threats, but who knows?”
Jiménez said that this drastic statement from the Trump administration could lead to other nations to do similar things.
“That means why doesn’t China invade Taiwan tomorrow?,” Jiménez said. “The only reason why the international order can sustain itself is because people stop themselves from doing things.”
Meanwhile, White House officials said Maduro and his wife were taken to New York City, where he will face federal indictment charges.
Newly-inaugurated New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the operation “an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.”
According to the city’s 2020 census data, the city is home to 17,734 self-identified Venezuelans with the population of the Hispanic and Latino community growing annually.
“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,” Mayor Mamdani said.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Kyle Bray (@KyleBrayWBZ) reports.