Trump said on Saturday that Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado had neither the support nor the respect within Venezuela to become its leader.
Who’s in charge of Venezuela and what happens next?
AFP via Getty ImagesWhat next for Venezuela?
While US officials have indicated it was not planning any further military intervention in Venezuela, Trump said “we’re not afraid of boots on the ground” in response to a question about deploying US troops there.
Trump also said US oil companies would move in to fix infrastructure “and start making money for the country”.
He said “we’re going to be taking a tremendous amount of wealth from the ground” which would go to people in Venezuela and to the US, adding “we’re going to get reimbursed for everything we’ve spent”.
He also said the US would sell oil to other countries.
Venezuela’s government described the attack as an attempt to seize “Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals” in an attempt to “forcibly break the political independence of the nation”.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but it is so-called “heavy, sour” oil. This is harder to refine but useful for making diesel and asphalt, while the US typically produces “light, sweet” oil used to make petrol.
What has Maduro been charged with?
US attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife were indicted in the Southern District of New York.
They have been charged with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the US.
