Trump says US will 'run' Venezuela and 'fix oil infrastructure'
Washington says a temporary takeover will oversee a transition and rebuild oil infrastructure following military action and arrests now moving through US courts.
President Donald Trump said the United States will run Venezuela until what he described as a safe, proper, and judicious transition can be ensured, following US strikes that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Trump said American oil companies would enter Venezuela to repair what he called the country’s badly broken oil infrastructure and begin generating revenue for the nation.
He described Venezuela’s oil sector as having been in collapse for a long period of time.
According to US statements, American forces carried out strikes on Saturday that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, who were removed from the country.
Venezuelan authorities announced a state of national emergency and denounced what they described as military aggression, with the vice president stating that Maduro remains the country’s only legitimate leader.
Maduro and Flores were flown out of Caracas by US helicopter in the early hours of Saturday morning and taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima at an undisclosed location in the Caribbean Sea.
They were later transferred to the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba before being flown onward to New York State and then taken by helicopter to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said both Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York.
The charges include conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
Maduro has previously denied being involved in cartel activity and has accused the United States of using its war on drugs as a pretext to remove him from power and gain control over Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Venezuela holds approximately three hundred three billion barrels of crude oil, representing about one fifth of global oil resources.
The events mark one of the most dramatic assertions of US power in the Western Hemisphere in decades.
Trump said American oil companies would enter Venezuela to repair what he called the country’s badly broken oil infrastructure and begin generating revenue for the nation.
He described Venezuela’s oil sector as having been in collapse for a long period of time.
According to US statements, American forces carried out strikes on Saturday that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, who were removed from the country.
Venezuelan authorities announced a state of national emergency and denounced what they described as military aggression, with the vice president stating that Maduro remains the country’s only legitimate leader.
Maduro and Flores were flown out of Caracas by US helicopter in the early hours of Saturday morning and taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima at an undisclosed location in the Caribbean Sea.
They were later transferred to the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base in Cuba before being flown onward to New York State and then taken by helicopter to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said both Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York.
The charges include conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
Maduro has previously denied being involved in cartel activity and has accused the United States of using its war on drugs as a pretext to remove him from power and gain control over Venezuela’s oil reserves.
Venezuela holds approximately three hundred three billion barrels of crude oil, representing about one fifth of global oil resources.
The events mark one of the most dramatic assertions of US power in the Western Hemisphere in decades.
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