Trump warns new Venezuelan leader as Maduro appears in court

Donald Trump has warned Venezuela’s new leader Delcy Rodriguez that if she “doesn’t do the right thing” she could “pay a very big price, probably even bigger than Maduro”.

His comments to US magazine The Atlantic come as the country’s deposed president Nicolas Maduro is due to appear in a New York court on Monday.

The United States accuses Maduro, who has been charged with drug trafficking and weapons crimes, of running a “narco-terrorist” regime, a claim he denies.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted the United States was not at war with Venezuela after airstrikes in Caracas on Saturday led to Maduro and his wife being detained and flown to the United States.

Some Democratic lawmakers called the operation an “act of war.”

“If she doesn’t do the right thing, she’s going to pay a very big price, probably even bigger than Maduro,” Trump said of Rodriguez in an interview with The Atlantic on Sunday.

He added that for Venezuela, “regime change, whatever you want to call it, is better than what you have now. It can’t get any worse.”

On Saturday, Trump vowed that the United States would “run” the country until a “safe, appropriate and wise transition” was possible.

Trump also promised that U.S. oil companies would come into the country to repair infrastructure “and start making money for the country.”

Despite the US president’s claims, Maduro’s allies remain in power.

The Cuban government said 32 “brave Cuban combatants” died when U.S. forces attacked and captured Maduro and his wife. Cuba, Maduro’s long-time socialist ally, declared two days of national mourning.

In several television interviews on Sunday morning, Rubio defended U.S. military action in Venezuela, stressing that the action did not mean the United States was at war with the South American country.

“We are at war with drug trafficking organizations. This is not a war against Venezuela,” Rubio said Sunday morning on NBC’s Meet the Press.

The secretary of state also told CBS that if Venezuela does not “make the right decision,” the United States “will retain a number of levers to ensure that our interests are protected.”

That includes a U.S.-imposed “quarantine” on Venezuelan oil, he said.

“We’ll judge everything by what they do, we’ll see what they do,” he added.

Trump also threatened Venezuela’s neighbor Colombia in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One.

He did not rule out military action against Colombia, saying “that sounds good to me” and calling Colombian President Gustavo Petro “a sick person”.

“Colombia is also very sick and run by a sick man who loves to make cocaine and sell it to the United States, and he won’t be doing that for much longer,” Trump said.

Maduro, who leads the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and has been in power since 2013, has often been accused of cracking down on Venezuelan opposition groups and stifling dissent, sometimes with violence.

He is widely believed by domestic opponents and foreign governments to have illegally won Venezuela’s 2024 election.

Venezuela’s leftist leader and his wife, Cilia Flores, were arrested at their residence and flown to the United States as part of a special forces operation early Saturday morning that also carried out attacks on military bases.

The couple has since been charged with weapons and drug offenses and will appear in court in New York on Monday.

Maduro denies being a cartel leader and accuses the United States of using the “war on drugs” as a pretext to try to overthrow him and gain access to Venezuela’s oil.

Although U.S. officials said no U.S. troops were injured in the attack, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said “a large part” of Maduro’s security team as well as “soldiers and innocent civilians” were killed in the U.S. operation.

Asked why the United States did not seek congressional authorization before taking action in Venezuela, Rubio told ABC that “it was not necessary because this was not an invasion.”

He described it as a “law enforcement operation” and said Maduro was arrested at the scene by FBI agents.

You can’t notify Congress of such an action because “it would leak,” he added.

Maduro’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez became interim president after being sworn in by the country’s Supreme Court. The country’s military also gave her support. She will be sworn in as president in Caracas at 08:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on Monday.

Rubio was asked in an interview with US media whether the United States recognized Rodriguez as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

He replied that “this has nothing to do with a legitimate president” because the United States does not recognize the legitimacy of the regime.

Some Democratic lawmakers condemned the administration’s actions.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the covert military operation, conducted without congressional approval, was “more than just a drug bust.”

“This was an act of war,” Jeffries told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“This was a military operation involving Delta Force, involving the military, apparently involving thousands of troops, involving at least 150 military aircraft and possibly dozens of ships off the coast of Venezuela and South America.”

Jim Himes, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he had received “zero outreach” from the Trump administration, adding that “to my knowledge, no Democrats have done any outreach.”

In an interview with ABC this week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer questioned the legality of the U.S. action.

Schumer said that while he thinks Maduro is a terrible person, “lawlessness cannot be treated the same as other acts of lawlessness.”

“We’ve learned over the years that when the United States attempts regime change and nation-building in this way, the American people pay the price in blood and dollars,” Schumer said.

He added that Trump had abandoned his campaign promise of “no more endless wars.”

Both Schumer and Jeffries have vowed to support a resolution that, if passed by the House and Senate, would prohibit Trump from taking any further action in Venezuela without congressional approval.

The governments of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Spain said in a joint statement that the U.S. military action “sets an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security and endangers civilians.”

They expressed their hope to resolve the situation in Venezuela through peaceful means such as dialogue and negotiation.

They also expressed concern about external controls that are “incompatible with international law” and “threaten the political, economic and social stability of the region.”