Following the ouster of President Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration is betting that threats of additional military action will pressure the Venezuelan leader’s inner circle to align with U.S. demands, with insiders warning they could face the same consequences.
The United States would consider another military operation in Venezuela if the interim government in the South American nation did not cooperate, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday.
Asked if this would mean that U.S. troops would be deployed on the ground to conduct peacekeeping, Trump said it would depend on the actions of the government now led by Interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
Uncertainty about the Trump administration’s use of military force is raising questions about his ability to bend the post-Maduro Venezuelan government to his will.
Venezuelan Officials Defiant
Top Venezuelan officials, who have called the capture of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores a kidnapping and accused the U.S. of trying to steal the country’s vast oil reserves, insisted that they remain united.
Rodriguez – who also serves as oil minister – has taken over as interim leader with the blessing of Venezuela’s top court, though she has said Maduro remains president.
Trump said nothing about restoring democracy to Venezuela in his triumphant press conference on Saturday. And he disappointed the country’s opposition when he dismissed the idea of working with opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Trump offered no clear picture how the U.S. would fulfill his vow to oversee Venezuela, something critics quickly condemned as neocolonialism and which would risk alienating some supporters who oppose foreign interventions.
Much of the U.S. State Department’s Western Hemisphere office was caught by surprise by Trump’s remarks, and no preparations have been made for sending staff to Caracas, two U.S. officials said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
