Washington threatens Venezuela’s new leadership with Maduro’s fate

The United States on Sunday expressed a willingness to cooperate with Venezuela’s current leadership, but President Donald Trump warned interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who was recognized by the military, of a fate similar to Nicolás Maduro unless she did “the right thing,” the day after the leftist leader’s arrest and trial in New York.

“Unless you do the right thing, you’re going to pay a very high price, maybe even bigger than Maduro,” Trump said in a phone interview with The Atlantic.

US officials, including Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have hinted at the possibility of cooperating with the remaining officials from the Maduro administration, but only if they take the right steps, including allowing US companies to take advantage of the country’s vast oil reserves.

After Trump said on Saturday that Washington intended to run Venezuela, a Latin American country of about 30 million people, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought to clarify that, saying Washington was not seeking to change the regime entirely.

Rubio told NBC that the US is fighting a war against drug traffickers not a war against Venezuela.

In Caracas, streets appeared calm on Sunday after Saturday’s operation, in which US special forces stormed the city, using helicopters, attack planes and naval forces, to arrest Maduro and his wife.

Residents of the capital lined up to buy food from shops, while Saturday’s scene of masked and armed police in the streets was absent.

The Venezuelan military has announced its recognition of Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, as interim president and urged the people to resume their normal lives.

Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, in a statement read out on television, denounced Maduro’s “cowardly kidnapping” and the killing of some of his guards “in cold blood,” in addition to the deaths of Venezuelan military and civilian personnel.

Although the process has achieved its goals, questions have grown about Trump’s strategy.

The US president said on Saturday that the intervention in Venezuela would be long-term, centered on ensuring access to the world’s largest proven oil reserves; Moreover, he didn’t rule out sending ground troops if necessary.

Rubio gave several television interviews on Sunday morning to stress that Washington wasn’t seeking to cause unrest.

He said Washington was ready to work with Rodríguez and the rest of Maduro’s government, provided they abide by US demands.

“We’re going to make an assessment based on what they’re doing, not what they’re saying publicly in the transition period,” he told CBS News.

Rubio denied any US desire to help opposition candidates come to power, saying it was premature to talk about new elections in Venezuela.

While Trump has threatened a second wave of military operations if necessary, Rubio said US pressure on Venezuela will continue in the form of an oil export ban imposed by Caribbean naval vessels.

Venezuela produces about 1 million barrels of crude oil per day, according to OPEC, and sells most of it on the black market at discounted prices, due to US sanctions.

Trump accuses Caracas of using oil revenues to fund drug related terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping.

In New York, Maduro was placed in a detention center ahead of an expected hearing Monday in Manhattan courthouse on drug trafficking charges.

A video posted by the White House on social media showed Maduro handcuffed and wearing sandals as federal agents were escorted through a US Drug Enforcement Administration facility in Manhattan late Saturday evening.

In the video, Nicolas Maduro, (63), can be heard saying in English, “Good night, happy new year”.

He was earlier photographed on a US Navy vessel blindfolded and handcuffed, wearing soundproof ear protections.

Maduro, a leftist, has ruled Venezuela for more than a decade, winning polls that have raised doubts about its integrity by the opposition and Western countries.

He came to power after the death of his inspiration and political mentor, former President Hugo Chávez.

As news of his arrest spread, Venezuelans living abroad waved flags and celebrated in squares from Madrid to Santiago.

Some eight million Venezuelans have left their country due to extreme poverty and political repression, with limited celebrations were also recorded in Caracas.

On Sunday morning, about 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy in Madrid to denounce “imperialist aggression” following Maduro’s arrest during a US military operation.

Hundreds also demonstrated in front of the US consulate in Amsterdam on Sunday, holding banners denouncing the Venezuelan president’s arrest.

In a joint statement, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Spain expressed their rejection of Maduro’s ouster as Venezuela’s president, and concern about any attempt to extranegate government control, management or appropriation of natural or strategic resources in Venezuela.