Khaberni - The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session on Monday to discuss the situation in Venezuela, based on a request from the Venezuelan government which on Saturday sought an urgent Security Council meeting to discuss the American attacks on the country. This comes after Washington announced the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro and his transfer abroad.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ivan Gil, speaking on the Telegram platform, said: "In the face of the criminal aggression committed by the US government against our country, we have requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, which is responsible for ensuring respect for international law."
There was an eerie silence in Caracas on Saturday, scented with the smell of charred materials following the American night raids, which were part of a military operation that resulted in the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
The main streets and avenues in the capital were nearly empty of pedestrians, while the shops closed their doors with iron barriers.
The movement of traffic was limited to a few cars, and tension hung in the air as people queued in front of stores to buy food.
Agents in black uniforms and sunglasses, carrying rifles, roamed the center of the capital where state institutions like the Ministry of the Interior are located, while other armed individuals surrounded the Miraflores Presidential Palace where Maduro had, until recently, held gatherings for his supporters to the tunes of popular songs with a slew of criticisms of imperialism.
Imperialism kidnapped them
In front of the palace, about 500 supporters gathered demanding the return of him and his wife Cilia Flores after they were arrested by the American military and taken to the United States, chanting "Imperialism kidnapped them and we demand their return."
President Donald Trump announced that Maduro and his wife would be tried in New York on charges of "narco-terrorism."
A platform was set up at the site of the demonstration, equipped with loudspeakers blaring "struggle" anthems, while protesters held up pictures of Maduro and waved Venezuelan flags.
Others carried banners reading "Today, tomorrow, and forever, the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela will prevail. Long live Nicolas, long live Chavez, long live the people."
Maduro has been in power since 2013, succeeding Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), his political mentor and the leftist leader who died after battling cancer.
54-year-old university professor Katia Briceño came "to defend" Venezuela against "barbarism." She questioned, "How can a foreign country come and interfere in the affairs of another country and kidnap its president?"
"Exposed to attack at any moment"
Pastora Vivas (65), who also came to participate in the demonstration said, "It wasn’t a big surprise because we were expecting to be attacked at any moment."
In eastern Caracas, where the well-off reside, long queues formed in front of food stores that sold their products from behind closed doors.
Sometimes a few customers are allowed to enter, while others shout their needs from behind the door.
At Francisco de Miranda International Airport in Caracas, planes were deployed on the runway to prevent other planes from landing, according to reporters from Agence France-Presse.
