Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday elaborated on why the US forces didn't try to extract other members of the Maduro cabinet, who also carry a bounty on their heads for narco-terrorism. Rubio said that it was not feasible to get Venezuela's Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, along with their President, and the armed forces were asked to take only the top target back to the United States.
While it may look like an easy job for the US forces from the outside, getting the Venezuelan President and his First Lady, Cilia Flores, from their stronghold was indeed a tough ask, he said. It would have taken more time — even days — if the US were to target multiple members of the Maduro cabinet, he said. “We got the top priority,” he told the press.
Talking about not trying to extract Cabello and López, he said, “They’re already complaining about this one operation. Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there for days to capture four other people.” Padrino López and Cabello have $15 million and $25 million bounties for their arrest, respectively, CNN said.
Where is Maduro kept?
Meanwhile, Maduro's defence minister demanded the “immediate return” of his leader and his wife. “We demand the return of Maduro and the First Lady,” López said in a news conference. “This is an act of aggression against the legitimate president of Venezuela and the First Lady,” he reportedly added. “...and we draw attention to everything that is happening to Venezuela against its sovereignty,” he reportedly added.
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The Brooklyn jail is holding Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Opened in the early 1990s, the Metropolitan Detention Centre, or MDC Brooklyn, currently houses about 1,300 inmates. A throng of Venezuelan expatriates, many draped in flags, gathered on the sidewalks outside the jail Saturday night to celebrate Maduro's capture. The crowd cheered as the law enforcement motorcade, believed to be carrying the deposed leader and his wife, arrived at the jail.
