United States President Donald Trump has said the United States (U.S) will temporarily take charge of Venezuela’s affairs.
Gatekeepers News reports that Trump made the declaration on Saturday while addressing reporters, saying the U.S. would oversee the country “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”
He said, “We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and end up with the same situation we’ve had for a long period of years”, adding that any transition “has to be judicious, because that’s what we’re all about”.
The statement followed the announcement by President Trump that Maduro had been captured and flown out of Venezuela after a military operation in Caracas.
Reports indicated that key infrastructure in the capital, including parts of the national power grid, was affected during the strike that preceded his arrest.
The U.S president also repeated long-standing allegations linking Venezuela to international drug trafficking, claiming American forces had knocked out 97 per cent of the drugs coming by sea. He said most of the drugs intercepted originated from Venezuela.
Trump has, on several occasions, warned of tougher measures against alleged criminal and drug trafficking networks in the country. In previous months, he disclosed that U.S intelligence agencies had been authorised to operate in Venezuela as part of efforts to curb drug smuggling and irregular migration.
The developments have drawn global attention, with regional leaders and international organisations calling for calm and respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty as the situation continues to unfold.
