(AFP) – President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States will “run” Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves after snatching leftist leader Nicolas Maduro out of the country during a bombing raid on Caracas. Trump’s announcement came hours after a lightning attack in which special forces grabbed Maduro and his wife, while air strikes pounded sites in and around the capital city.
Shortly after nightfall, Maduro was escorted off a plane at a military base in New York. He was expected to be transported by helicopter to New York City, where the couple faces trial on drug trafficking and weapons charges. Despite the success of the risky operation, what happens next is highly uncertain. Trump said he was “designating people” from his cabinet to be in charge in Venezuela, but gave no detail of how this would work.
In another surprise, Trump indicated US troops could be deployed there in the future, saying Washington is “not afraid of boots on the ground.” But he appeared to reject the possibility of the country’s repressed opposition taking power and said he could work instead with Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez. One aspect that became clearer was the White House’s motivation, with Trump indicating regime change and Venezuela’s oil riches were the major goals.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said. “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil.” At Venezuela’s request, the UN Security Council will meet Monday to discuss the US operation to seize Maduro, the Somali presidency of the Council told AFP.
US-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, posted on social media that “the hour of freedom has arrived.” She called for the opposition’s 2024 election candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to “immediately” assume the presidency. But Trump was surprisingly cold about expectations that Machado could become Venezuela’s new leader, saying she doesn’t have “support or respect” there.
Instead he touted Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.” Rodriguez, however, poured cold water on that, demanding Maduro’s release and vowing to “defend” the country. Reflecting the confusion, Trump indicated that US involvement is likely for the long haul. “We’re there now, but we’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” he said.
China, a backer of Maduro’s leftist regime, said it “strongly condemns” the US operation, while France warned a solution cannot “be imposed from outside.” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.”
Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces spent months massing off the coast. Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters around 2:00 am (0600 GMT). Air strikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour, AFP journalists said. The top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft took part in the operation, supporting troops helicoptering in to seize Maduro with the help of months of intelligence into the leader’s daily habits — down to “what he ate” and what pets he kept.
Maduro, 63, and his wife “gave up” without a struggle and there was “no loss of US life,” he said. Several hours after the attacks, Venezuelan authorities had yet to release casualty figures. But Trump told a US media outlet that “many” Cubans who were part of Maduro’s security detail were among the dead. Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and a smell of smoke drifting through the streets.
The US and numerous European governments did not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy, saying he stole elections in 2018 and 2024. Maduro — in power since 2013 after taking over from leftist mentor Hugo Chavez — long accused Trump of seeking regime change in order to control Venezuela’s oil reserves. Trump has offered several justifications for the aggressive policy toward Venezuela, at times stressing illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and the country’s oil industry. But he had previously avoided openly calling for regime change.
Several members of Congress quickly questioned the legality of the operation. However, Trump’s key ally Mike Johnson, Republican speaker in the House of Representatives, said it was “justified.”
burs-sms/ksb/mlm – Jim Watson, with Javier Tovar, Andrea Tosta and Patrick Fort in Caracas, and Danny Kemp in Washington
© 2024 AFP
