Maduro's capture: Elon Musk's Starlink announces free internet service in Venezuela
Earlier, Musk had backed a US military operation to capture Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from Caracas
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced that Starlink would provide free internet service in Venezuela till February 3. The announcement comes after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured by US special forces on Saturday (January 3).
Starlink is a satellite internet service run by Musk’s SpaceX. In a post on its X (formerly Twitter) account on Sunday, the company said it wants to ensure continued connectivity for the people of Venezuela amid the crisis.
Also read: Venezuela's interim president seeks US cooperation after Trump's 'heavy price' threat
“Starlink is providing free broadband service to the people of Venezuela through February 3, ensuring continued connectivity,” Starlink said.
What Musk said
Reposting this, Musk wrote, “In support of the people of Venezuela.”
Earlier, Musk had backed a US military operation to capture Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, from Caracas.
Also read: Xi Jinping takes 'bullying' dig at US after capture of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro
“Venezuela can now have the prosperity it deserves,” Musk wrote on Sunday in Spanish on his X account.
In 2024, too, Musk had criticised Maduro in several posts on X, calling him “clown”.
“Maduro is not a good guy. Venezuela deserves much better. The US has plenty of domestic oil & gas production and nothing would happen fast in Venezuela, so it would certainly not affect this election. Several years would be needed to rebuild Venezuela’s oil production,” Musk wrote in July, 2024.
“The people of Venezuela have had enough of this clown,” Musk had posted in response to a video of people tearing down Maduro’s posters.
Maduro to appear in court
Meanwhile, Maduro is set to make his first appearance Monday in an American courtroom on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify capturing him and bringing him to New York, Associated Press (AP) reported.
Maduro and his wife are expected to appear at noon before a judge for a brief, but required, legal proceeding that will likely kick off a prolonged legal fight over whether he can be put on trial in the US. The couple will be brought from a Brooklyn jail to a Manhattan courthouse just around the corner from the one where President Donald Trump was convicted in 2024 of falsifying business records, the report said.