Trump issues a warning to Venezuela’s incoming leader as Maduro prepares for a court appearance
Donald Trump warned Venezuela’s new leader, Delcy Rodríguez, that she could face consequences even more severe than those imposed on Maduro if she fails to act appropriately.
His comments to the US magazine The Atlantic came as the country’s ousted president, Nicolas Maduro, was due to appear in court in New York on Monday.
The US accuses Maduro of drug trafficking and weapons crimes and claims he runs a “narco-terrorist” regime, claims he denies.
After Maduro and his wife were taken into custody in an airstrike in Caracas on Saturday and taken to the US, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted that the US was not at war with Venezuela.
Some Democratic lawmakers said the action was an “act of war.” In an interview with The Atlantic on Sunday, Trump said of Rodriguez, “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she’s going to pay a very big price, maybe even bigger than Maduro.”
He added that for Venezuela, “regime change, or whatever you want to call it, is better than what you currently have. What could be worse than this?”
On Saturday, Trump vowed that the US would “run” the country until a “safe, proper, and sensible transition” was possible.
Trump also promised that US oil companies would come into the country to fix the infrastructure “and start making money for the country.” Despite the US president’s claims, Maduro’s allies are still in charge.
The Cuban government said that 32 “brave Cuban fighters” were killed when US forces attacked and captured Maduro and his wife. Cuba—a longtime socialist ally of Maduro—has declared two days of national mourning.
In several television interviews Sunday morning, Rubio defended the US military operation in Venezuela and insisted that the action did not mean the US was at war with the South American country.
“We are fighting against drug trafficking organizations. This is not a war against Venezuela,” Rubio told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning.
The Secretary of State also told CBS that if Venezuela “doesn’t make the right decisions,” the US “will take a variety of steps to protect our interests.”
He said this included a “quarantine” imposed by the US on Venezuelan oil.
“We’re going to judge everything based on their actions, and we’ll see what they do,” he said. Trump also threatened Venezuela’s neighbor, Colombia, while speaking to reporters on Air Force One.
Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has now become interim president after being sworn in by the country’s Supreme Court. The country’s military has also pledged its support to her. She will be sworn in as president on Monday in Caracas at 8:00 a.m. local time (12:00 GMT).
Speaking to US media outlets, Rubio was asked whether the US recognizes Rodríguez as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
He responded that “it’s not about the legitimate president,” because the US does not recognize the legitimacy of this regime. Some Democratic lawmakers have criticized the administration’s actions.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the secret military operation, conducted without congressional authorization, “was not simply a narcotics operation.” “This was an act of war,” Jeffries told NBC’s Meet the Press.
“This was a Delta Force military operation, involving the military, clearly involving thousands of troops, at least 150 military aircraft, and likely dozens of ships off the coast of Venezuela and South America.”
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Jim Himes, told CBS’s Face the Nation that he had received “zero outreach” from the Trump administration and added, “I know of no other Democrat who has received any outreach.”
In an interview with ABC’s This Week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer questioned the legality of the US operation. Schumer said that while he believes Maduro is a terrible person, “you can’t cure chaos with more chaos.”
Schumer said, “We’ve learned over the years that when America tries to engage in regime change and nation-building in this way, it costs the American people both blood and treasure.”
He said Trump had abandoned his campaign promise of “no more endless wars.”
Schumer and Jeffries both vowed to support a resolution that, if passed by both houses of Congress, would prevent Trump from taking further action in Venezuela without congressional approval.
In a joint statement, the governments of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Spain said that US military intervention “sets a very dangerous precedent for peace and regional security and puts civilians at risk.”
They said they want the situation in Venezuela to be resolved through peaceful means such as dialogue and negotiation. They also expressed concern about external intervention, which they said “violates international law” and “threatens the political, economic, and social stability of the region.”
