Trump Says U.S. Will“Run” Venezuela Following Capture Of Maduro

(MENAFN- Nam News Network) WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (NNN-XINHUA) – U.S. President, Donald Trump, said yesterday, the United States will“run” Venezuela after the U.S. military raided the country and captured Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who are being transported to New York.

“We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a press conference, at his Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida.

“We don't want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. So we are going to run the country.

“We're there now. We're going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” Trump added, offering no timeline for how long such a transition is expected to take.

He later said, top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth, would work with a team to help run Venezuela.

Trump refused to rule out the possibility of further U.S. military involvement.“We're not afraid of boots on the ground,” he said.

Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the press conference that the U.S. troops will remain in the region, following large-scale strikes on Venezuela.

“As we stand here this morning, our forces remain in the region at a high state of readiness, prepared to project power, defend themselves and our interests in the region,” Caine said.

A number of“No War on Venezuela” protests are taking place in Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York and other cities across the United States.

“We need to take to the streets and say no to another endless war! The people of this country do not want another war! A U.S. war would cause death and destruction for the people of Venezuela,” the Answer Coalition, one of the organisers, said in a news release.

The latest U.S. strikes on Venezuela and its capture of Maduro have drawn worldwide condemnation and concern.

Shortly after the strike started, the Venezuelan government denounced the“military aggression” by the United States, adding that, the strike targeted civilian and military sites in at least four states of the country.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was deeply alarmed by the U.S. military actions, his spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Secretary-General continues to emphasise the importance of full respect – by all – of international law, including the UN Charter. He's deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected,” said the statement, issued by spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric.– NNN-XINHUA

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