US president Donald Trump said he sees a continued role in Venezuela after ordering a large-scale attack on Saturday that captured president Nicolas Maduro, including influencing who leads the country and involvement in the country's oil sector.
Trump ordered the overnight attack in Venezuela after months of escalating hostilities against the South American country, including the seizure of oil tankers and a recent missile attack on a dock area. Maduro and his wife were captured during the attack and are being flown to New York to face criminal charges related to drug trafficking. Trump said he would now seek significant involvement in deciding who would lead the country after ordering the military attack.
"We can't take a chance in letting somebody else run and just take over where he left off, so we're making that decision now, we'll be involved very much," Trump said in an interview on Fox News on Saturday.
Trump's assertion that he would be involved in choosing the political leadership of Venezuela is unprecedented, and it remains unclear what role he envisions for the US in the country of 28mn people. Venezuelan defence minister Vladimir Padrino denounced the strike as "vile and cowardly" and said it was "flagrant violation" of the UN Charter and international law. Other leaders across South America condemned the attacks. Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the attack crossed an "unacceptable line", and Colombia president Gustavo Petro called for the UN Security Council to convene.
Trump said he would have to "take a look" at a possible role of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, but he noted Venezuela already has a vice president, Delcy Rodriguez. Machado last month emerged in Norway after leaving Venezuela under the threat of arrest.
Venezuela, a member of the Opec+ oil producer group, exported about 700,000 b/d of crude in November, according to oil analytics firm Kpler. Chevron operates in Venezuela with state-owned PdV under a waiver from US sanctions. Chevron imported about 120,000 b/d of crude from Venezuela to the US in December, based on data from Kpler ship tracking.
Trump said the US would be "very strongly involved" in Venezuela's oil sector after the strike. In December, Trump demanded Venezuela to return "all of the Oil, Land and other Assets that they previously previously stole from us" without elaborating. Venezuela during the rule of former president Hugo Chavez nationalized assets of US companies and others.
"We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we're going to be very much involved in it," Trump said on Fox News.
Trump in the interview said the strike on Venezuela was "really genius", but he predicted Democratic lawmakers might criticize the attack as "not constitutional".
"All they do is complain," Trump said of Democrats. "They should say, 'You know what, we did a great job.' We're stopping drugs from coming into this country."
Democrats condemned the military attack, which took place without the US military informing congressional leaders. US Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark Warner (D-Virginia) said using the military for "regime change" could open the door to countries like China and Russia doing the same.
