Donald Trump has threatened Maduro’s successor, Delcy Rodríguez, with consequences if she doesn’t do what the US wants her to do. In an interview with The Atlantic magazine, he literally said: “She will pay a very high price, probably higher than Maduro, if she doesn’t do the right thing.” The US President did not explain what exactly the “right thing” was.
Trump also suggested that this might not be the last operation of its kind. “We definitely need Greenland,” he said, describing the island as “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.” Foreign Minister Marco Rubio also said yesterday after the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro regarding Greenland: “When he (Donald Trump, editor’s note) tells you he’s going to do something, when he says he’s going to tackle a problem, he means it.”
As recently as 2016, Trump, as president-elect, declared that under him the United States would “stop overthrowing foreign regimes that we know nothing about.” He explained his current departure from this doctrine in the interview with the state of the country. “You know, reconstruction there and regime change, whatever you want to call it, is better than what you have there now. It can’t get any worse,” he said.
The UN Security Council will discuss on Monday the US military operation in Venezuela, during which long-time head of state Nicolás Maduro was arrested and brought to the USA. The emergency meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m. local time (4:00 p.m. CET) at the request of Venezuela. Interim President Delcy Rodríguez condemned the US attack and emphasized: “We are ready to defend Venezuela.”
The Venezuelan armed forces have recognized Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as temporary head of state. After the capture of head of state Nicolás Maduro by US special forces, she will take over the leadership of the country in accordance with the constitution, said Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino.
