Excerpted from article below: One thing Mr. Trump made clear was his desire to open up Venezuela’s vast state-controlled oil reserves to American oil companies, who he said would pay to rebuild the energy infrastructure in Venezuela.
“We are going to run the country right,″ Mr. Trump said. “It’s going to make a lot of money.” Past Venezuelan governments, he said, “stole our oil” — an apparent reference to the country’s nationalization of its oil industry.
Trump Says U.S. Will ‘Run the Country’ After Capture of Maduro
Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s vice president who was sworn in as interim leader, contradicted President Trump by rejecting U.S. intervention and demanding Nicolás Maduro’s return. Maduro and his wife were being taken to New York to stand trial on drug and weapons charges.
The U.S. military captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, in a swift and overwhelming strike on Caracas early Saturday morning and was transporting him to New York to face criminal charges — the stunning culmination of a monthslong campaign by President Trump and his aides to oust the authoritarian leader.
Hours later, Mr. Trump said at a news conference the United States would “run the country” until a proper transition of power could be arranged, raising the prospect of an open-ended commitment. He offered few details, however, and it was not clear whether he meant U.S. forces would occupy the country, although he said he was not afraid of “boots on the ground.”
It was not immediately clear how much control the United States had over the country. There were no obvious signs of a U.S. military presence in Venezuela at midday on Saturday, as Venezuelans began to assess the damage from the American airstrikes and the ground incursion that led to the capture of Mr. Maduro and his wife.
Venezuela’s top officials and state news media projected a message of defiance on Saturday afternoon. Mr. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as interim president at a secret ceremony in Caracas, delivered an address to the nation rejecting the U.S. intervention. She accused Washington of invading her country under false pretenses and asserted that Mr. Maduro was still Venezuela’s head of state.
“There is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros,” Ms. Rodríguez said to thundering applause.
The main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, posted a statement urging that her political ally, Edmundo González, be recognized as Venezuela’s president immediately. Though Mr. Maduro claims he defeated Mr. González in the last election, the United States and other international observers say he won through fraud. “Today we are prepared to enforce our mandate and take power,” said Ms. Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.
Mr. Trump avoided embracing either Ms. Rodriguez or Ms. Machado. He said his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, had spoken to Ms. Rodriguez and “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.” He also said Machado didn’t have the support or respect to lead the country.
Mr. Rubio said he was reserving judgment on Ms. Rodriguez’s speech rejecting cooperation with the Trump White House. “We’re going to make decisions based on their actions and their deeds in the days and weeks to come,” he said, referring to the interim Venezuelan government.
One thing Mr. Trump made clear was his desire to open up Venezuela’s vast state-controlled oil reserves to American oil companies, who he said would pay to rebuild the energy infrastructure in Venezuela.
“We are going to run the country right,″ Mr. Trump said. “It’s going to make a lot of money.” Past Venezuelan governments, he said, “stole our oil” — an apparent reference to the country’s nationalization of its oil industry.
The military operation came after months of threats, warnings and accusations of drug smuggling by Mr. Trump against Mr. Maduro. Mr. Trump said that no American troops had been killed but suggested in an interview with Fox News that some had been injured when their helicopter was hit.
Mr. Maduro, a self-described socialist, has led Venezuela since 2013, and the Biden administration accused him of stealing the election that kept him in power last year. His inner circle appeared to have survived.
Here is what else to know:
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Anti-American protests: Hours after Mr. Maduro and his wife were captured by U.S. forces, Venezuela’s state-run television was broadcasting rallies and protests taking place across several cities, including the capital, Caracas. Mr. Maduro’s supporters vowed to defend their country from what they described as an illegal attack and the kidnapping of their “legitimate” leader. Read more>
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C.I.A. involvement: American special operations forces captured Mr. Maduro with the help of a C.I.A. source within the Venezuelan government who had monitored his location in recent days, according to people briefed on the operation. Mr. Trump posted an image of Mr. Maduro in custody aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, one of the American warships that have been prowling the Caribbean, and said he and his wife would be taken to New York.
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Casualties unclear: Venezuelan authorities were still assessing the damage done by the strikes and it was unclear how many people had been killed. At least one older woman was killed when an airstrike hit an apartment building near the Caracas airport, according to her family.
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Military buildup: Before the strikes on Saturday, the Pentagon has amassed troops, aircraft and warships in the Caribbean. The U.S. military has attacked many small vessels that U.S. officials maintained were smuggling drugs, killing at least 115 people. And the C.I.A. conducted a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela last month, according to people briefed on the operation.
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Oil blockade: The United States has also carried out a campaign against tankers carrying Venezuelan crude, throwing the country’s oil industry into disarray and jeopardizing the government’s main source of revenue.
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Cartel accusations: A new indictment was unsealed by a federal judge in New York City, charging Mr. Maduro, his wife and four others with four counts including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of machine guns. The indictment was similar to the one unveiled in March 2020, which accused Mr. Maduro of overseeing a violent drug organization known as Cartel de los Soles. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Mr. Maduro is actually at odds with one group, Tren de Aragua, and analysts say the Cartel de Los Soles does not exist as a concrete organization.
News Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01/03/world/trump-united-states-strikes-venezuela