On January 3, the US President held a press conference where he spoke about the US operation in Venezuela and the capture of the countryʼs President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
His speech was broadcast with translation by Suspilne.
Before the conference began, Trump posted a photo of Maduro with his hands tied and a mask over his eyes. At the time of publication, he was being transported aboard the USS Iwo Jima to New York.
At the briefing, Trump accused Maduro and his wife of "narcoterrorism" against US citizens and stated that Maduro personally oversaw the "Cartel of the Sun," which imported drugs into the US.
According to Trump, the operation in Caracas has no analogues since World War II — all of Venezuelaʼs military capabilities have been disabled.
He added that the US plans to govern Venezuela until it can ensure a "safe, orderly and prudent transition of power".
“We don’t want to be in a situation where someone else comes in and we have the same situation we’ve had for years. So we will run the country until there is a safe, orderly and prudent transition. We want peace, freedom and justice for the people of Venezuela — and especially for the many Venezuelans who live in the United States and want to return to their homeland. We cannot allow someone who does not have the interests of the Venezuelan people first to take control of Venezuela,” Trump said.
The US President stressed that the US is ready for a second, more powerful attack on Venezuela. However, there is no need for this at this time.
He also said that Venezuela had acquired "threatening offensive weapons" that it used yesterday. Trump did not specify what weapons he was referring to.
The United States will continue its naval blockade of Venezuela, Trump added. The blockade began in mid-December, when Trump ordered the blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers sailing to and from Venezuela.
In addition, according to Trump, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez had a phone conversation with Marco Rubio and stated that Caracas was ready to cooperate with Washington "to make Venezuela ʼgreat againʼ ".
At the same time, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel laureate Maria Machado, according to Trump, has no support in the country, and the United States has not contacted her.
The US operation in Venezuela
At least seven explosions rocked Caracas, Venezuela, on the night of January 3. Several military installations in the country were targeted on the orders of US President Donald Trump, including the La Carlota and Fuerte Tiuna air bases, the La Guaira seaport, the home of the defense minister, and the El Volcán signal antenna.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has declared a state of emergency across the country. At least 11 facilities are estimated to have been attacked, including the parliament building. CNN reported that the US Senate Defense Committee was not informed of the operation in advance.
According to Trump, Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were detained and deported from the country to the United States. They were charged with narcoterrorism, cocaine importation, illegal possession of machine guns and explosives, and conspiracy against the United States.
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