Facing wrath of US justice

Maduro taken ...now America is running country | Questions over whether raid was against the law

- BY DAN VEVERS

GLOATING Donald Trump posted an extraordinary image of Nicolas Maduro helplessly clutching a water bottle after being captured by American special forces.

The US president hailed the "spectacular" overnight assault which snatched the Venezuelan leader and his wife Cilia Flores before announcing he would be taking over the South American country and its vast oil reserves.

Taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima warship, the picture shared by Trump on his Truth Social site shows humbled Maduro in blacked out glasses and wearing ear defenders.

He then revealed a larger second attack on Venezuela had been planned and that America would strike again if its takeover was resisted.

The US president watched "operation absolute resolve" which plucked from office Maduro, whose nation had recently faced serious pressure from Washington.

It was the result of months of planning, including meticulous research on the leader's movements even down to what he ate, wore and the pets he had.

Maduro, a bus driver who rose to become president, will now be taken to New York to face criminal charges in the US related to "drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies".

But the legality of the attack - similar to the 1990 US invasion of Panama which led to the surrender of leader Manuel Antonio Noriega has been immediately called into question.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK was "not involved in any way" in the US strike but refused to comment on whether the attack breached international law.

Around 500 UK nationals are thought to be in the country, including an unknown number of Scots.

Speaking at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago, Trump said: "We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition." He boasted the "extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives".