President Trump details US raid that captured Maduro in Venezuela
At a press conference, President Donald Trump detailed the U.S. military operation that detained President Nicolas Maduro and his wife overnight in Caracas.
Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in New York City on Monday, days after his wife was captured by U.S. forces in a surprise attack in the oil-rich country.
President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan at noon local time for arraignment on four indictments related to a 25-year-old narco-terrorism conspiracy. President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the case against Maduro is “no doubt.” President Maduro has long denied any involvement in drug trafficking.
The surprise attack marked a significant escalation against the South American country after months of heightened tensions, threats and the seizure of oil tankers. The military operation has garnered support from President Trump’s allies, but has also drawn bipartisan criticism, with some lawmakers questioning the legality of an operation to seize a foreign head of state.
On Sunday, President Trump discussed military intervention in other countries, including Mexico, Colombia and Greenland. Governance of the South American country remains uncertain after Maduro’s arrest, with President Trump saying the United States would “run” the country and Secretary of State Marco Rubio explaining how he would pressure Venezuela to act in American interests.
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■ Speaking on Air Force One on Sunday, President Trump reflected on other countries, saying Mexico needs to “get its act together” and telling reporters that military action in Colombia was “a good thing.” Trump also reiterated his claim that the United States “needs Greenland” and said the Cuban regime was “ready to collapse.”
∎ Cuban state media reported that 32 Cuban nationals who were protecting President Maduro were killed in a surprise attack by the United States over the weekend. Neither the United States nor Venezuela confirmed the death toll, but U.S. officials said several soldiers were injured in the operation.
President Trump has said the United States will “run” Venezuela, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he remains focused on using leverage and pressure to force the oil-rich country to act in line with U.S. interests. So far, there are more questions than answers about how Venezuela will be governed after Maduro’s capture.
On Sunday night, President Trump reiterated to reporters that “the United States is responsible” for Venezuela. The president added that the administration is “dealing with people who have just been sworn in,” referring to Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who was apparently named acting president.
Trump told reporters he had not yet spoken to Rodriguez, but said others had, adding that he would talk to Rodriguez “at the appropriate time.” He later said the U.S. had not given Rodriguez anything in exchange for her cooperation, but said: “She is cooperating.”
Mr. Rodriguez had previously rejected Mr. Trump’s claims that he was willing to cooperate with the administration, but adopted a softer tone in Sunday night’s statement. He called for a “balanced and respectful” relationship with the United States, adding that the relationship should be based on “sovereign equality and non-interference.”
“We call on the U.S. government to work together on an agenda of cooperation aimed at common development within the framework of international law and to strengthen the lasting coexistence of our communities,” Rodriguez said in a statement on Telegram.
Earlier in the day, President Trump had issued a warning to Rodriguez. “If she doesn’t do the right thing, she’s going to pay a very high price, probably more than Maduro,” Trump told The Atlantic.
Asked if he would demand free and fair elections in Venezuela, Trump said: “It depends.” He said Venezuela needs to be “fixed” before elections can be held in the country.
“We’re looking more at fixing it and being prepared first, because the situation is a mess. This country is a mess,” he said.
President Trump also called on Rodriguez to provide the United States with “full access” to Venezuela’s resources. He noted that oil companies want to enter Venezuela and repair the country’s oil infrastructure.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Venezuela is recognized as having the world’s largest proven reserves of crude oil. President Trump has said U.S. oil companies may resume investing in the region, but that investment was halted after Maduro’s late predecessor, Hugo Chávez, seized the assets of foreign oil companies.
In comments aboard Air Force One, Trump called Venezuela “very sick” and said the United States could launch a second military attack on the country if the remaining members of Maduro’s regime do not cooperate in efforts to “rebuild” the country.
His comments also raised the possibility of further U.S. military intervention in Latin America. President Trump has indicated that Colombia and Mexico could also face military action if they do not reduce the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
“Colombia is also very sick. It’s run by a sick man who likes to make cocaine and sell it to the United States. He won’t last very long,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, in an apparent reference to Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
He also said Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, “looks ready to collapse” on its own without U.S. military action. Trump said “many Cubans were killed” during Saturday’s operation to capture President Maduro.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino said on state television that the U.S. attack killed “the vast majority” of soldiers, civilians and Maduro’s security personnel “in cold blood.” The Cuban government announced that 32 people were killed in the attack.
In the town of Catia la Mar, near Venezuela’s capital Caracas, some houses were damaged or destroyed in a U.S. military operation, residents told Reuters on January 4.
Motorcycle taxi driver Jonathan Marola, 50, and his neighbor Angel Álvarez, a young street vendor, said they woke up to the sound of explosions on January 3 in their community in La Guaira state, about 30 miles north of Caracas.
“I’m really lucky they didn’t kill my children,” Marola said amid the rubble of her apartment building, whose roof was destroyed. He reportedly escaped with his 24-year-old daughter and 22-year-old son and was unharmed.
“I don’t wish anyone to experience an attack,” he added. “We live by miracles.”
Venezuelan authorities said the United States attacked areas in La Guaira, Caracas, neighboring Miranda and Aragua states, killing many soldiers, civilians and members of President Maduro’s security forces, but did not give specific figures for deaths and injuries.
− Reuters
The Trump administration’s capture of Maduro has echoes of the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama that ousted military strongman Manuel Noriega and was the most direct U.S. intervention in Latin America since then.
But experts say that despite some similarities, the two key moments in the long and checkered history of U.S. interventions are different in major ways, and could make it more difficult for the U.S. to achieve its goals this time around, following attacks that have reignited unrest in the region.
“It’s not going to be that easy in Venezuela,” said Will Freeman, Latin America researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations. “One, it’s unlikely that we’ll even reach democracy. Two, many of the problems that were with President Maduro will remain.” Click here for details.
− Chris Kenning
The capture of President Maduro and his wife in a nighttime raid by the U.S. military on President Maduro’s compound in Caracas marked the realization of a long-held political goal for President Trump. But it was a personal victory for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a key member of the Trump administration.
“President Nicolas Maduro had many opportunities to get away with this,” Rubio said alongside Trump at a news conference after the attack at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Florida, mansion. “He was given multiple very, very, very generous offers, but instead he chose to act like a wild man and fool around, and the result is what we saw tonight.”
Mr. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, was one of the key architects of the Trump administration’s Venezuela policy, which pivoted the United States from decades of diplomatic negotiations on human rights and other issues to the use of military force to remove the de facto leader from office. Click here for details.
− Francesca Chambers and Michael Collins
Contributed by: Reuters
