Alyaksandr Lukashenka said that the wife of Nicolas Maduro, Cilia Flores, had been offered the option of remaining in Venezuela. According to him, she refused in order to stay with her husband. A fragment of his remarks at the For Spiritual Revival awards ceremony was published by Lukashenka’s press service.
In his view, U.S. actions toward Venezuela may be linked to concessions by President Donald Trump to military circles following the situation in Afghanistan.
“America is a very complex country, very complex. It is not like here, or even in Russia and other countries. I think this is most likely a concession by Donald Trump to the military. Remember how they fled from Afghanistan, clinging to aircraft landing gear, falling on the runway? A disgrace. But they had to show that they are capable of something. And again they got involved in a very unpleasant situation,” he said. “Yes, it is bad, disgusting. The reaction of the whole world — well, there were some who reacted mildly, but dissatisfaction and the reaction to this incident are negative for everyone. Everyone will draw conclusions from this, everyone understands what is happening in this sphere in the world, and everyone will think about how to protect their own country.”
“What is important is that the president was seized. The wife was told — and this is very important: ‘You can stay, we have no claims against you.’ She says: ‘No, I am with him.’ I know Flores — a very courageous woman, despite being small in stature. ‘I am with my beloved.’ They delivered her to America and slapped a drug trafficking charge on her. That is all the justice they taught us. Had enough? They never had, do not have, and will not have any truth or any justice,” he added.
Maduro and his wife Flores were detained and taken to the United States on January 3. They appeared before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on January 5. Maduro pleaded not guilty and requested a consular visit. Flores also pleaded not guilty and described herself as Venezuela’s first lady. The next hearing in their case is scheduled for March 17.