Donald Trump has said the US will “run” Venezuela until a “safe” transition of power can take place after carrying out strikes on the country and capturing its president.
The US president said Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had been flown out of Caracas and indicted on “narco-terrorism” charges following the overnight operation.
The operation followed months of pressure from Washington on the oil-rich South American nation, which Mr Trump said the US would run until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” could take place.
“We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years, so we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Mr Trump told a news conference.
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“And it has to be judicious, because that’s what we’re all about.
“We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country, it’s their homeland.”
He said large American oil companies will also “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country”.
Shortly before taking questions from media, the US president also shared an image on his Truth Social platform which he claimed showed the Venezuelan president “on board the USS Iwo Jima”.
In a statement via his spokesman, the UN secretary general voiced concerns that the rules of international law had not been respected.
[ Why has US attacked Caracas and captured Venezuela’s president?Opens in new window ]
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Antonio Guterres, said: “The secretary general is deeply alarmed by the recent escalation in Venezuela, culminating with today’s United States military action in the country, which has potential worrying implications for the region.
“Independently of the situation in Venezuela, these developments constitute a dangerous precedent.”
Responding to the overnight events in Venezuela before Mr Trump addressed the press, meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee said: “Ireland, together with our EU partners, underlines the absolute necessity of full respect for international law and the principles of the UN Charter.
“While we have been clear that president Maduro does not have any democratic legitimacy, we have consistently called for a peaceful and negotiated transition in Venezuela, and have supported all international efforts to that end.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is monitoring the consular situation, in co-ordination with EU partners on the ground.”
In Venezuela, the political situation remained unclear on Saturday evening. Earlier, a key figure in Mr Maduro’s government described the US actions as an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.
Ruling party leader Nahum Fernandez told the Associated Press that Mr Maduro and his wife were at their home within the Fort Tiuna military installation when they were captured.
“That’s where they bombed,” he said. “And there, they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country.”
During the press conference at which Mr Trump spoke later in the day, the president was asked about the future of Mr Maduro’s number two, vice-president Delcy Rodriguez. He said US secretary of state Marco Rubio was “working on that directly”.
“He’s just had a conversation with her and she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Mr Trump said.
Ms Rodriguez was later reported to have said Venezuela would never be a colony of another country, however, and to have called for the return of Mr Maduro and his wife.
In relation to María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, Mr Trump said: “I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader.
“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
Speaking about the military operation in which Mr Maduro and his wife were captured, Mr Trump said it had been “extraordinary”.
“Air, land and sea was used to launch a spectacular assault. And it was an assault like people have not seen since World War Two,” he told the press conference in Florida.
“This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.” – Additional reporting by PA
