Vladimir Padrino Lopez, the defense minister for Venezuela, has described the US’s decision to kidnap president Nicolas Maduro as a “cowardly kidnapping,” claiming that some of the president’s bodyguards and civilians were killed “in cold blood” on the side of the country.
Additionally, Padrino Lopez endorsed a Supreme Court decision that appointed vice president Delcy Rodriguez, who also serves as oil minister, as acting president for 90 days in his televised statement on Sunday.
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Rodriguez’s refusal to cooperate with Washington sparked a “very big price,” according to US President Donald Trump. In a telephone interview, Trump claimed that if she doesn’t do what’s right, she will end up paying a lot more than Maduro.
In the early hours of Saturday, US forces bombed military installations and drove away Maduro and his wife to New York to face drug trafficking charges. At Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York state, the Venezuelan president was taken to a Brooklyn jail after being escorted off a plane.
On Monday, he will appear in federal court in Manhattan for his first time.
Venezuelan oil is being benefited by US oil blockade.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the suggestion that Washington would only be able to impose an existing “oil quarantine” and use that leverage to push for policy changes in Venezuela.
Rubio’s statements, one day after Trump’s announcement that the oil-rich country would “run,” appeared to temper concerns. Parts of the Trump administration’s own Republican Party coalition, including those who oppose foreign interventions, and those who recall previous efforts to build a nation in Iraq and Afghanistan, were uneasy about the Trump administration’s actions.
Rubio refrained from expressing such sentiments, claiming that Trump’s intentions had been misunderstood by a “foreign policy establishment” that was focused on the Middle East.
According to Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle, who is based in Doral, Florida in the US, Trump was elected despite having adopted an “America First” policy that prohibited US service members from engaging in international conflicts or putting US service personnel in danger.
Lavelle remarked, “We’re not afraid to put boots on the ground,” which he had said less than 24 hours ago.
Trump’s military action in Venezuela was met with protests in numerous US cities. In downtown Los Angeles, hundreds of people gathered in the rain with signs urging the government to stop bombing Venezuela right away. and “No Blood for Oil”
I vehemently oppose US imperialism. They want to aid the corporate billionaires, but they also want oil. They only have a means of acquiring control through bombing, which is their only way to do so. I’m also opposed to it, according to one protester, Niven.
Trump claimed that Venezuela had “stolen” oil from the US and that it would now be taken back in a speech on Saturday that he made little mention of despite making little mention of it in his speech.
Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, criticized Trump’s actions in Venezuela and demanded that he be questioned and impeached. Every life lost in Venezuela is a death sentence. In a social media post, he retorted that President Trump should be impeached and the alleged killings should be looked into.
On Monday, the UN Security Council (UNSC) met to discuss Venezuela’s current situation. The US strikes, which a spokesperson called “a dangerous precedent,” “deeply alarmed” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said he was “deeply alarmed” by them.
Uncertainty after Maduro’s abduction in Venezuela
Venezuelans in Caracas have praised the US’s seizure of Maduro, but others fear that it will worsen the country’s conflict and cause protests that denounce the US.
Because it has been 28 years of government, there should be a positive change for all Venezuelans, according to Ronald Gaulee, a motorcycle rider in Caracas.
Juan Carlos Rincon, the merchant, was more cautious. He told the Reuters news agency, “The truth is that there is a lot of manipulation behind all this.” Venezuela has the right to choose its own destiny and its own leaders, just like any other country does; we want to be in peace and move forward.
Baker Franklin Jimenez vowed to follow the government’s advice to stand up for the country. He said, “If they had taken him away, I believe they shouldn’t have,” because it would have led to a conflict that worsened than the one we currently have. We must go out to defend our country, to defend ourselves, and that includes bombings and other incidents.
In the face of uncertainty, some Venezuelans crossed the Venezuela-Colombia border to travel to Cucuta, Colombia, where they made the decision to flee. San Cristobal, a city in Venezuela, is in a “tense situation,” according to Karina Rey, who lives nearby.
People are extremely paranoid or apprehensive about food, and there are long lines. Rey reported to Al Jazeera that “supermarkets are closing”. We don’t know what will happen in the upcoming weeks, so the lines are very long just to stock up on food. What will happen, we’re anticipating it.
Many Venezuelans there initially felt jubilant after Maduro’s ouster, according to Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti, who was based in Cucuta. He claimed that “that quickly shifted to uncertainty.”
According to Rampietti, “a number of people predicted that the United States would immediately re-enter Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who many Venezuelans believe won the previous presidential election,”
There is growing concern about what might happen next, especially with the majority of the current leadership still in place and Vice President Delcy Rodriguez being appointed interim leader.
What will happen next, according to Tiziano Breda, a senior analyst at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, depends on how the government and the armed forces react.
Source: Aljazeera
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