President Donald Trump has said the United States has not ruled out carrying out a second military strike in Venezuela, stating that such action would depend on the country’s conduct following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
Recall that the US special forces on Saturday captured Mr Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and transported them to New York, where they are expected to face trial over multiple allegations, including drug trafficking.
“If they don’t behave, we will do a second strike,” Fox News quoted Mr Trump as saying aboard Marine One while travelling from Mar-a-Lago to the White House.
The US president has long described Mr Maduro as a dictator and the leader of a drug cartel accused of trafficking cocaine into the United States.
Mr Maduro is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday before a federal court in Manhattan.
Mr Trump also announced that the United States would “run” Venezuela and take control of its oil sector, a declaration that was rejected by interim President Delcy Rodríguez.
She said Venezuelans would “defend our natural resources”.
The operation that led to the arrest of the former Venezuelan leader and his wife, codenamed ‘Operation Armour Shield’, has attracted mixed reactions globally. While some countries praised the move as overdue, others, including Russia and Ghana, argued that Venezuela’s political future should be determined by its own people without external intervention.
