NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani slams Trump capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Saturday that he had been briefed on plans to imprison Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in New York City and that their capture was “an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.”

President Donald Trump announced Saturday morning that the couple had been captured in a “large-scale attack” after months of attacks on suspected drug vessels allegedly linked to the Venezuelan regime in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific.

The Venezuelan government said in a statement that 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.”

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Mamdani, a Democratic socialist who took office on New Year’s Day, said at a press conference on Saturday that he discussed the issue with Trump on the phone and that the commander-in-chief reversed his decision.

“I called the president and spoke to him directly to express my opposition to this action and to make it clear that this is an opposition based on the pursuit of regime change, violation of federal international law, and the desire to see this be consistent every day,” Mamdani said. he said. “I expressed my opposition, I made it clear, and we left it at that.”

The mayor then appealed to X, claiming that his “blatant pursuit of regime change” would directly impact New Yorkers and Venezuelans living in New York.

“My focus is on their safety and the safety of every New Yorker, and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant instructions,” Mamdani wrote in the post.

A woman carries a Venezuelan flag in front of the White House in Washington, DC, during a demonstration following the US military intervention in Venezuela on Saturday. (Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

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Both Maduro and Mamdani believe that wealth should be redistributed downward; Mamdani focuses on taxing the wealthy and corporations to fund public services, and Maduro focuses on redistributing wealth through oil revenues and state control over resources.

Mamdani also campaigned on publicly run housing, child care, public transportation, and municipally owned grocery stores, similar to Maduro’s policies on state-run food distribution, health care, and housing.

Venezuelans are celebrating after President Donald Trump announced Saturday that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been captured and sent out of the country. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

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But Venezuelan socialism involves nationalization and centralized control, leading to economic collapse and authoritarian drift.

Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.