Trump assures that they will oversee a proper transition in Venezuela
US President Donald Trump has stated in an official appearance from his home in Mar-a-Lago (Florida) that they will lead Venezuela until there is a proper transition with a team that is already prepared and that could, in principle, count on the collaboration of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, as he has hinted.
Trump has ruled out María Corina Machado because she is not prepared to govern the country and has the support of the Venezuelan people.
The opposition leader, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has called for Edmundo González, the president-elect in last year's elections, which were fraudulently usurped by the Chavistas, to be put in charge as soon as possible of the transition that will remove the country from the Chavista regime.
When pressed by journalists about who will manage the situation that is now unfolding following Maduro's capture, but with the rest of the Chavista leaders still in office, Trump did not want to give many details, but warned everyone that they must change sides or else they will be forced to do so. The president has assured that he is prepared to launch more attacks, and much more forceful ones if necessary, to crush any opposition that may arise to the dismantling of Chavismo.
Trump emphasized that the U.S. military launched a spectacular operation against Venezuela, with many risks, but with a precision that shows the whole world that we have the best armed forces in the world after one of the greatest demonstrations of power in U.S. history.
Surrounded by senior officials from his administration, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Trump has assured that he will bring dictator Maduro to justice and that these authorities will decide where Maduro will be imprisoned while awaiting trial on charges of drug trafficking and terrorism.
Trump has insisted on several occasions that they will generate money for Venezuelans to give them back a dignified life with investment from American companies in the Venezuelan oil industry, which has been rendered obsolete by the incompetence of its Chavista managers, who have allowed the structures to age and production to fall from four million barrels per day to the current 600,000. The money that will be generated by the new American-managed oil industry will reach Venezuelans from all sectors to rebuild the country.
Minutes earlier, Trump posted on Truth Social the first image of the Chavista leader, who is on the military ship Iwo Jima, where he is being transported to New York with his wife Cilia Flores after being captured at dawn. He appears handcuffed, in a tracksuit, with a bottle of water in his hand and his eyes and ears covered. Both will be tried for alleged “narco-terrorism” and three other charges.
In a previous telephone interview with Fox News, Trump provided more details about the capture. He reported that the couple was arrested at a residence in Venezuela and that, although a “second wave” of attacks had been planned, the first “was so lethal” that no more were necessary.
He also indicated that the army had been on standby for days, waiting for the perfect weather conditions to carry out the mission. “It was amazing, an amazing job these people did. No one else could have done something like this,” he said, acknowledging that a couple of soldiers had been injured, but no one had been killed.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez acknowledged in an audio broadcast on state television that the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife are unknown and demanded that Washington provide proof of life for both of them.
Trial in New York
The Chavista leader will face criminal trial in the US and no new attacks are expected, according to Republican Senator Mike Lee, based on what he has been told by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The military action that night was “to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” a course of action that Lee has noted falls within the presidential authority enshrined in the Constitution to “protect U.S. personnel from imminent attacks,” even though declaring war on another country falls to Congress.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has indicated that Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. The president faces charges of “conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.”
“They will soon face the full force of U.S. justice on U.S. soil in U.S. courts,” she said on her Twitter account, thanking Trump “for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American people,” as well as the “brave military” that carried out the “incredible and highly successful mission” to capture these two “alleged traffickers.”
