Pope Leo calls for Venezuela’s sovereignty

VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo called for ​Venezuela to remain an independent nation and said he was following developments after the US’ toppling of President Nicolas Maduro with a “soul full of concern” on Sunday.

Leo, the ‌first American ‌pope, also ‌called for ​respect ‌for human rights and the rule of law “as enshrined” in Venezuela’s constitution.

“We must not delay in overcoming violence and embarking on paths of justice and peace, while guaranteeing the country’s sovereignty,” the pope told ‌pilgrims in St. ‍Peter’s Square during ‍his Sunday prayer.

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s toppled leader Nicolas Maduro was in a New York detention center on Sunday awaiting drug charges.

Maduro, who wished his captors a “Happy New Year” on arrival, is due to appear in a Manhattan court on Monday.

At home, his allies were still in charge and have denounced their leader’s arrest.

Streets were far quieter than usual on Sunday as Venezuelans anxiously discussed what would come next. Some stocked up on essentials but many simply hunkered indoors.

“I’ve just taken the dog out and it feels like an abandoned city, people are shut inside,” said Alejandra Palencia, 35, a psychologist in the city of Maracay. “There is fear and uncertainty.”

Once one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America, Venezuela’s economy nosedived further under Maduro, sending about one in five Venezuelans abroad in one of the world’s biggest exoduses.

They were largely jubilant at the exit of Maduro, whose security forces repeatedly crushed opposition protests. The former union leader, bus driver and foreign minister was the dying Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor as president in 2013.

“We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen,” said Khaty Yanez, who lives in Chile.

Trump says Maduro masterminded the ‌flow of drugs into the US and was illegitimately in power due to vote-rigging.

He denies those claims.

“There is ‍only one president in Venezuela, and his name is Nicolas Maduro,” said Delcy Rodriguez, ‍who took over Venezuela’s interim presidency, in a defiant message to the US despite Trump’s assertions she was open to working with them.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who is close to the military, urged Venezuelans to stand firm.

US Special Forces swooped in on helicopters to seize Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, under darkness in the early hours of Saturday after strikes on military installations in Caracas and elsewhere.

While many Western nations oppose Maduro and say he stole the 2024 ​election, there were many calls for the US to respect international law and resolve the crisis diplomatically.

There were also questions over the legality of seizing a foreign head of state. Democrats said they were misled at recent Congress briefings and demanded a plan for what is to follow.