Vanessa BuschschlüterOnline editor in Latin America
EPA/ShutterstockUS President Donald Trump said his country’s involvement in Venezuela could last for years.
He told the New York Times that “only time will tell” how long his administration will “manage” the running of the South American country after US forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in an attack on Saturday.
Trump also did not say if or when elections would be held in Venezuela to replace the interim government led by Maduro loyalist Delcy Rodríguez.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Maduro’s ouster triggered an “irreversible process” that would lead to “free” Venezuela.
Journalists from the New York Times (NYT) questioned Trump on his plans for the future of Venezuela days after he said his administration would take over the oil-rich country.
On Wednesday, the White House said the US would control the sale of sanctioned oil “indefinitely”.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright argued that the US needed control of Venezuela’s oil sales for leverage over the interim government in Caracas.
Trump said his administration would “take oil” from Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven reserves, but acknowledged it would “take a long time” to get the country’s oil industry up and running.
Venezuela’s oil production has plummeted due to mismanagement on the part of Maduro’s government and his predecessor, as well as years of US sanctions.
Trump told the NYT that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “constantly talks” with Rodríguez, who has been appointed interim leader of Venezuela by the country’s Supreme Court, which is ruled by Maduro loyalists.
He added that Rodríguez “gave us everything we felt we needed.”
The US president previously said that the interim government agreed to use the revenue from the sale of its oil to buy only US-made goods.
According to NYT reporters, Trump did not answer their questions about why he recognized Rodríguez as the new leader of Venezuela.
Many Venezuelan analysts expect Maduro’s ouster to be followed immediately by the return to the country of opposition leaders Edmundo González and María Corina Machado.
But in his first news conference after the US attack, Trump dismissed Machado, saying he lacked the “respect” and support of Venezuela’s leadership.
“I think it’s very difficult for him to be a leader,” he said.
Machado managed to unite opposition groups behind him ahead of the 2024 presidential election but was barred from running for president by officials loyal to the Maduro government.
He then threw his weight behind former diplomat González, who acted as his proxy.
The electoral council, also ruled by government loyalists, declared Maduro re-elected. However, the voting figures collected by the opposition, independently verified, suggest that González won by a landslide.
González went into exile to escape government repression after the election, and Machado went into hiding inside Venezuela.
He embarked on a perilous journey by land, sea and air to reach Oslo in December to collect the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to him for his “tireless work promoting democratic rights” in Venezuela.
His current whereabouts are unknown but he said he plans to return to Venezuela soon.
In an interview with Venezuelan opposition news site La Patillahe insists that ousting Maduro puts his country on an irreversible path to independence.
He said he hoped this new phase of the transition process would be “as short and swift as possible”.
He added that the interim government, which he said is “the same regime that is under Maduro” “has been given instructions to dissolve itself”.
Machado insisted that González was the legitimately elected president and urged that his mandate be respected.
He emphasized that “the first thing” that should happen is the release of political prisoners.
Machado is not the only one demanding the release of more than 800 political prisoners held in Venezuela’s notorious prisons.
On Wednesday, Republican lawmaker María Elvira Salazar published several posts on social media insisting that they be released “immediately”.
However, in his interview with the NYT, Trump instead “appeared to be more focused on the rescue mission than the details of how to navigate the future of Venezuela”, according to reporters who spoke to him.
Pressed on what the US plan is for Venezuela, he said “we will rebuild it in a constructive way”.
He added: “We will use oil, and we will take oil. We will lower the price of oil, and we will give money to Venezuela, which they really need.”
The US president is expected to meet with representatives of the three largest US oil companies at the White House on Friday to discuss the plans.