Moscow and Beijing's fury at removal' of Maduro

CHINA TELLS TRUMP TO RELEASE VENEZUELA PRESIDENT 'AT ONCE'

- BY GILES SHELDRICK Chief Reporter

Nicolas Maduro gestures in Caracas Nicolas Maduro gestures in Caracas Right, Donald Trump, meets in the White House with CIA director John Ratcliffe, inset, desperate Celia Flores in captivity and US officers at NYC detention centre A residential block in Catia La Mar was among homes hit during the US operation

CHINA and Russia erupted with fury after Donald Trump sanctioned the seizure of Venezuelan despot Nicolas Maduro in a covert coup.

The audacious special forces operation saw the “forcible removal” of the South American dictator and his wife from their Caracas lair as explosions rang out.

They are due to appear in a New York court later today on narco-terrorism charges after being flown out and shipped to the US.

But the daring Delta Force operation angered and humiliated Beijing and Moscow, allies of Venezuela, and set the axis on a collision course with the White House.

The Chinese foreign ministry has demanded US president Donald Trump “release them at once” after Maduro and wife Cilia Flores were captured and flown out to a high-security New York prison.

Beijing’s stinging rebuke expressed “serious concern over their transfer out of the country”.

It claimed the military operation was “in clear violation of international law and the basic norms in international relations and the pur-

poses and principles of the UN Charter”, adding: “China calls on the US to ensure the personal safety of President Maduro and his wife. Release them at once.