WASHINGTON (UNITED STATES) – A top US official on Sunday said the Trump administration will work with the existing Venezuelan leadership, after a stunning military operation snatched president Nicolas Maduro and brought him to face trial in New York.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments indicated that Washington is not seeking complete regime change and sought to clarify President Donald Trump’s earlier statement that the United States will “run” the Latin American country of about 30 million people.
Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the US was fighting drug traffickers, “not a war against Venezuela.”
The streets of Caracas were calm in the wake of Saturday’s raid, in which US commandos swooped into Caracas on helicopters, backed by attack jets and naval forces, to seize Maduro and his wife.
Residents queued up to buy food in grocery stores and the masked, heavily armed police visible the previous day were gone, AFP correspondents said.
The Venezuelan military announced it recognized Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, as acting president, and urged people to resume normal life.
Despite the success of the initial US operation, questions mounted over Trump’s strategy.
The US president on Saturday indicated deep, long-lasting US involvement centered on securing access to the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
“We’re going to run the country” until a transition can be made, he said, also insisting that military “boots on the ground” remained a possibility.
Rubio did multiple television interviews Sunday morning to make clear that Washington is not looking for upheaval.
He said Washington is ready to work with Rodriguez and the rest of Maduro’s cabinet — as long as they adhere to US demands.
“We’re going to make an assessment on the basis of what they do, not what they say publicly in the interim,” he told CBS News.
Underlining the lack of focus on democracy or desire to help long-backed opposition candidates to get power, Rubio told NBC it was “premature” to talk of new elections for Venezuela.
While Trump had threatened “a second wave” of military action if needed, Rubio said US pressure would remain on Venezuela in the form of an oil export embargo enforced by Navy ships in the Caribbean.
“That allows us to exert tremendous leverage over what happens next,” he said on CBS.
The Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, told ABC News that Americans were left “scratching their heads in wonderment and in fear.”
– ‘Good night’ –
The deposed Venezuelan leader was in a detention center ahead of an expected Manhattan court hearing on narcotrafficking charges Monday.
Handcuffed and in sandals, Maduro was escorted by federal agents through a Manhattan US Drug Enforcement Administration facility late Saturday, a video posted by the White House on social media showed.
“Good night, happy new year,” the 63-year-old leftist was heard saying in English.
Earlier, he was photographed on board a US naval ship blindfolded and handcuffed, with noise-canceling ear protectors.
Maduro, a self-described socialist, led Venezuela with an iron fist for more than a decade through a series of elections widely considered rigged. He came to power after the death of his charismatic mentor, Hugo Chavez.
As news of his seizure rippled out, exiled Venezuelans waved flags and celebrated in plazas from Madrid to Santiago. About eight million Venezuelans have fled the grinding poverty and political suppression of their homeland. There was muted joy too in Caracas.
– Massive crude reserves –
The Trump administration faces accusations of acting illegally in a pressure campaign that began with blowing up small boats accused of transporting drugs near Venezuela and climaxed with Saturday’s toppling of Maduro.
The Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, said the raid was an act of war which should have been authorized by Congress.
Trump has cast the attack on Venezuela as essentially a police operation against an alleged narcotrafficking ringleader.
However, he has made clear that the broader goal is to secure access to Venezuela’s enormous oil reserves and to keep US rivals out of the region.
Trump vowed massive US investments in the oil industry which has collapsed under years of international sanctions and lack of investment.
Venezuela does “not have the capability to bring up that industry again. They need investment from private companies who are only going to invest under certain guarantees and conditions,” Rubio told CBS.
“We’re pretty certain that there will be dramatic interest from Western companies. Non-Russian, non-Chinese companies will be very interested,” Rubio said.
