Donald Trump(L), Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez(C) and President Nicolas Maduro(R), Military build up continues after US struck Venezuela
Credit: Reuters Photos
The military raid by the United States on Saturday in Venezuela that led to the capture of the latter's President Nicolas Maduro from capital Caracas has plunged the Latin American nation into chaos.
While the Donald Trump administration officials portrayed the seizure as a law-enforcement action to hold Maduro accountable for criminal charges filed in 2020 that accuse him of narco-terrorism conspiracy, there are other factors involved as well and a major part of that is the country's vast oil reserves.
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Trump, when asked what he needed from the country's acting governing authority, said “We need total access. We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.”
The US President had earlier brought focus on securing access to the world's largest proven oil reserves.
So, who is actually in charge of Venezuela now? Let's see what major 'stakeholders' have to say and do.
What did Donald Trump say?
"We're dealing with the people who just got sworn in. Don't ask me who's in charge because I'll give you an answer and it'll be very controversial." Pressed on what he meant, Trump said: "It means we're in charge." Asked about elections in Venezuela, the Republican also said it would have to wait.
"We're going to run it, fix it, we'll have elections at the right time, but the main thing you have to fix is it's a broken country."
This was a little different from what Trump himself said on Saturday when he said US will 'run' the South American country. But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said that Washington is not seeking complete regime change or elections.
The United States is fighting drug traffickers, not a war against Venezuela, Rubio said.
The Trump administration would keep a military “quarantine” in place on the country’s oil exports to exert leverage on the new leadership there, Rubio said.
What did Venezuela's current administration say?
Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez invited the US government to collaborate on an agenda of cooperation, in a statement on social media that struck a conciliatory tone following the US capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
She said that Venezuela "aspires to live without external threats" and that she wanted to prioritise moving towards balanced and respectful relations with the United States.
This was marked shift in the stance from a day earlier when Rodriguez accused the Trump administration of illegally kidnapping Maduro. Rodríguez, 56, a former foreign minister, was Maduro’s vice president. When Maduro was taken out of the country by force and in handcuffs Saturday, she initially refused to acknowledge that she had essentially become president, referring to Maduro as the country’s “only” president.
Further strikes by US?
Trump told reporters on Sunday that he could order another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with US efforts to open up its oil industry and stop drug trafficking. He also threatened military action in Colombia and Mexico and said Cuba's communist regime "looks like it's ready to fall" on its own.