An audacious US military operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, with Donald Trump announcing that the United States would temporarily take control of the country. The operation, which involved US Special Forces, knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas and resulted in at least 40 deaths, according to the New York Times.
Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said: “We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” He added that the US could not risk someone else taking over who did not have Venezuelans’ interests at heart. The president hailed the attack as “an assault like people have not seen since World War Two”.
Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores were flown to New York, landing at Stewart Air National Guard Base in a white Boeing 757. He is expected to appear in court by Monday evening. Video from the White House showed Maduro in handcuffs at the US Drug Enforcement Administration offices in New York.
Trump said the US would temporarily seize control of Venezuela and its oil infrastructure, with American oil companies investing billions to repair it. “We’re going to have our very large US oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” he said. He also threatened a second, larger attack if necessary.
The intervention was condemned by Democrats and world leaders as a dangerous example of US imperialism. Despite the capture, Maduro’s government appears to still be in charge. Trump claimed Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez had agreed to cooperate, but she later maintained a critical tone in a televised address.
