President Donald Trump says the United States has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and is now effectively in control of the country, warning that a far larger military strike is ready if needed.
In an address, President Trump declared no U.S. troops were killed in the operation and said Washington will “run” Venezuela until what he called a safe and orderly transition is achieved.
In the wee hours of Saturday morning the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country in a stunning military operation that plucked a sitting leader from office.
In his address President Donald Trump said the US is now effectively in control of the country, warning that a far larger military strike is ready if needed.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. So we don’t want to be involved with, having somebody else get in. And we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. And it has to be judicious because that’s what we’re all about. We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela.”
The U.S. President also made clear that Washington’s involvement would extend beyond the battlefield, outlining plans for American oil giants to take a central role in rebuilding Venezuela’s energy sector.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go and spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure and start making money for the country.”
He said the US is ready to stage a second and much larger attack if needed.
“We actually assumed that a second wave would be necessary, but now it’s probably not. The first wave, if you’d like to call it that, the first attack, was so successful, we probably don’t have to do a second, but we’re prepared to do a second wave. A much bigger wave, actually.”
President Trump said the capture was the culmination of months of escalating pressure from the Trump administration on the South American nation.
“Air, land and sea was used to launch a spectacular assault. And it was an assault like people have not seen since World War II. It was a force against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas, to bring outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice.”
He praised the US military for their work in capturing the Venezuelan president.
“This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.”
President Donald Trump announced that Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as the country’s new President. He added that she has indicated a readiness to cooperate with the United States in governing the country.
“For us to just leave who’s going to take over, there is no one to take over. You have a vice president who’s been appointed by Maduro, and right now she’s the Vice President, and I guess the President. She was sworn in as President just a little while ago. She had a long conversation with Marco and she said we’ll do whatever you need. I think she was quite gracious but she really doesn’t have a choice. We’re going to have this done right. We’re not going to do this and just leave, like everybody else. Leave and say, let it go to hell. If we just left, it has zero chance of ever coming back.”
President Maduro and his wife were taken overnight from their home on a military base. According to international reports both were aboard a U.S. warship on their way to New York, where they were to face criminal charges.