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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Saturday said he was briefed on plans to imprison Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in New York City, calling their capture an “act of war and a violation of federal and international law.”
President Donald Trump announced the couple’s capture in a “large scale strike” Saturday morning, following months of assaults on suspected drug vessels allegedly tied to the Venezuelan regime in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific.
The Venezuelan government said in a statement the attack was carried out to seize the country’s oil and minerals, and was an “attempt to impose a colonial war to destroy the republican form of government and force a ‘regime change,’ in alliance with the fascist oligarchy.”
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, left, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio watch from Mar-a-Lago in Florida as a U.S. military operation is carried out to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Saturday. (Credit: Donald Trump via TruthSocial) (Donald Trump via TruthSocial)
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Mamdani, a Democratic socialist inaugurated on New Year’s Day, said during a news conference Saturday he discussed the matter with Trump on the phone, pushing back on the commander-in-chief’s decision.
“I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act, and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal international law, and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day,” Mamdani said. “I registered my opposition, I made it clear, and we left it at that.”
The mayor later took to X, claiming the “blatant pursuit of regime change” will directly impact New Yorkers and Venezuelans living in New York City.
“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,” Mamdani wrote in the post.
A woman holds a Venezuelan flag in front of the White House in Washington, D.D., during a demonstration following U.S. military action in Venezuela on Saturday. (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)
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Both Maduro and Mamdani believe in redistributing wealth downward, with Mamdani focused on taxing the wealthy and corporations to fund public services, and Maduro redistributing wealth through oil revenues and state control of resources.
Mamdani also campaigned on public-run housing, childcare, transit and city-owned grocery stores, similar to Maduro’s policies of state-run food distribution, healthcare and housing.
Venezuelans celebrate after President Donald Trump announced that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country, Saturday. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
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However, Venezuelan socialism involves nationalization and central control, which led to an economic collapse and authoritarian drift.
Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
