donald trumppresident of the United States, offered a large press conference from Mar-A-Lago in which he spoke of the recent operation to capture Nicolas Madurorecorded at dawn on January 3 in Caracas.
At the conference, he noted that his government will assume command in the country until an orderly transition occursalthough he did not give details of what this transfer of power will be like, but he announced that Marco Rubio would be in charge.
“For a period of time, the people behind me will govern Venezuela,” Trump said at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago along with Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth; the Secretary of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, and the Director of the CIA, John Ratcliffe.
Trump explained that the Washington team that will control Venezuela will work alongside the Venezuelan people to facilitate the transition after the arrest of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, but that they are established in the country to stay until they ensure that the end of Chavismo is over and an “appropriate transition” takes place.
In his statement, he considered that María Corina Machado will not be leading the transition process in the country. “I think it would be very difficult for her to be in charge of the country. She does not have support or respect within her country. She is a very kind woman, but she does not inspire respect,” he added.
However, he mentioned that Marco Rubio has spoken with Delcy Rodríguez, who would have assumed command in Chavismo after Maduro’s capture. “I just had a conversation with her and she is essentially willing to do what we consider necessary to make Venezuela great again,” he said.
For now, Trump did not clarify what the next actions in the country will be, but he emphasized that they will take control to help the Venezuelan people.
