US oil companies will take charge of the “reconstruction of Venezuelan infrastructure”
The US president expresses doubts about Machado because she "doesn't have the country's support" and speaks for the moment of an internal management
United States President Donald Trump announced this Saturday that his country will “take charge” of the situation in Venezuela until an acceptable replacement for President Nicolás Maduro is decided upon. Maduro was captured this past morning along with his wife after a US assault on his “fortress in the heart of Caracas” amidst US bombings against the capital and surrounding areas.
“We’ve already arrived, but we’ll stay until the proper transition takes place. So we’ll stay, we’re going to take charge, essentially, to make the transition possible,” the US president said at a press conference, accompanied by his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth; Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, to report on an operation that resulted in no fatalities among US military personnel.
Trump described a future for Venezuela in which “enormous American oil companies, the largest in the world,” will spend “billions of dollars, fix the infrastructure that is very damaged, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”
After recalling that Maduro is currently indicted in the United States for crimes related to drug trafficking and terrorism, Trump confirmed that Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, also detained, will be transferred to New York from the USS Iwo Jima, where both are being held, “to face the full force of American justice.”
Maduro, Trump asserted, was both an “illegitimate dictator” and “the capo of a vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal quantities of lethal and illicit drugs into the United States” who sent “savage and murderous gangs, including the bloodthirsty prison gang Tren de Aragua, to terrorize American communities across the country.” The American president has reiterated his accusations that the Venezuelan government “seized and stole American oil and assets” that have cost the country “billions and billions of dollars” in what he described as “one of the greatest thefts of property in American history.”
“A SAFE AND PROPER TRANSITION”
The US president assured that his country is capable of guiding Venezuela through a “safe, proper, and judicious transition” and warned what remains of the Maduro government, starting with the Ministers of Interior and Defense, Diosdado Cabello and Vladimir Padrino, that his country is ready “to launch a second, much larger attack if necessary.”
Trump declined to specify whether this “transition” he is planning includes the deployment of troops on Venezuelan soil. “We’re not afraid to deploy troops. We deployed troops last night,” the American president said. “It’s something we’re not afraid of. Regardless, we’re going to make sure that this country is run properly,” he indicated.
In this regard, the US president did not explicitly mention opposition leader MarÃa Corina Machado, nor the Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate, Edmundo González, as possible replacements for Maduro. “We’re going to have a group of people who will run it until it can get back on its feet, generate a lot of money for the people, and provide Venezuelans with a great way of life,” he said before assuring that he knows “fantastic people, including people in the military.”
DOUBTS ABOUT MACHADO
Furthermore, Trump even expressed serious doubts about Machado, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, because he believes she does not have sufficient support among the population. “I think it would be very difficult for her to be a leader if she doesn’t have the support and respect of the country.” “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect of the country,” he said.
In fact, the U.S. president hasn’t even explicitly repudiated the current vice president of Venezuela, Delcy RodrÃguez. “Maduro chose her, but we’ll see,” he stated. The U.S. president recalled that RodrÃguez had held talks with Rubio during the unsuccessful previous negotiations with Maduro and assured that the Venezuelan vice president showed a willingness to cooperate despite being Maduro’s “number two.” In any case, Trump refused to discuss specific timelines: “I would like everything to happen quickly, but it takes time because we are going to rebuild their entire infrastructure, because it’s rotten,” he said.
Finally, and in general terms, Trump has defended his actions in Venezuela as a new example of his foreign policy for the continent. “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never again be questioned,” the president stated.
