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Pope Leo Concerned about the ongoing situation Venezuelaurging the country to safeguard its independence and respect human rights.
Addressing pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square during weekly Sunday prayers, the pope declared that his “soul is filled with concern,” adding that “the interests of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail above all other considerations.”
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s ousted leader Nicolas Maduro is taking a seat. Drug charges awaited Sunday at New York detention center after president Donald Trump Ordered a daring raid to capture him and said the United States would take control of the oil-producing country.
The image of Maduro, 63, blindfolded and handcuffed on his way to the United States shocked Venezuelans and marked Washington’s most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago.
Maduro, who wished his kidnappers a “Happy New Year” upon arrival, is due to appear in a Manhattan court on Monday.
‘There is fear and uncertainty’
At home, his allies remain in power and denounce their leader’s “kidnapping” as part of an imperialist oil grab.
On Sunday, the streets were much quieter than usual as Venezuelans anxiously discussed what would happen next. Some stocked up on essentials, but many simply stayed indoors.
“I just took the dog out and it felt like an abandoned city with people locked in,” said Alejandra Palencia, a 35-year-old psychologist in Maracay.
“There is fear and uncertainty.”
Many world leaders, with memories of painful U.S. interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, were alarmed by Trump’s move even as Maduro’s status is low because of his authoritarian rule and extensive evidence of fraud.
Trump said the United States will now manage the South American country of about 30 million people and its world’s largest oil reserves. But he gave no specific details.
“We will govern this country until we can achieve a safe, appropriate and sensible transition,” he told a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, welcoming Maduro’s extraordinary exit at the door of the safe room.
To the dismay of the Venezuelan opposition and diaspora, Trump dismissed the idea of Maria Corina Machado, the 58-year-old opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, taking over, saying she lacked support.
Machado has been barred from running in Venezuela’s 2024 elections and said her ally Edmundo Gonzalez, 76, should be president now. According to the opposition and some international observers, Edmundo Gonzalez won the election in a landslide.
Once one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries, Venezuela’s economy has declined further under Maduro and about a fifth of Venezuelans have been sent abroad in one of the world’s largest exoduses.
They largely cheered the exit of Maduro, whose security forces have repeatedly suppressed opposition protests. The former union leader, bus driver and foreign minister was the handpicked presidential successor to the dying Hugo Chavez in 2013.
“We are all happy that the dictatorship has fallen,” said Hati Yanez, who lives in Chile.
“There is only one president: Maduro; interim president says
Trump said Maduro orchestrated the flow of drugs into the United States and illegally came to power by manipulating votes.
He denies these claims.
“Venezuela has only one president, and his name is Nicolás Maduro,” he said. Delcy RodriguezDespite Trump’s claims that she was willing to cooperate with the United States, she took over as Venezuela’s interim president and sent a defiant message to the United States.
“We will never again be a colony of any empire.”
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who has close ties to the military, urged Venezuelans to stand firm and underscored Trump’s repeated rhetoric about sharing in the oil boom.
“We are angry because in the end everything has been revealed – they only want our oil,” Cabello said in audio shared by the ruling Socialist party.
U.S. Special Forces helicopters captured Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, in the dark early Saturday morning after attacks on military installations in Caracas and elsewhere.
While many Western countries oppose Maduro and say he stole the 2024 election, many are calling on the United States to respect international law and resolve the crisis through diplomatic means.
There are also questions about the legality of arresting foreign heads of state. Democrats say they were misled in recent congressional briefings and are demanding a follow-up plan.
Oil renaissance?
Trump said major U.S. oil companies would return to Venezuela and renovate severely degraded oil infrastructure, a process that experts say could take years.
“We are not afraid of boots on the ground,” he added.
A plane carrying Maduro landed near New York City on Saturday night and he was flown by helicopter to the city before being taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Maduro was charged in 2020 with drug-terrorism conspiracy and other charges and is expected to make his first appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday.
The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the U.S. move, which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called a dangerous precedent. Russia and China are both major supporters of Venezuela and criticize the U.S.
Venezuela’s Maduro opponents have been wary of celebrations, and security appeared to be more relaxed than usual on Sunday. Despite the tense atmosphere, cars were still moving in some places, bakeries and coffee shops were open and joggers and cyclists were out and about like a normal Sunday morning.
“Yesterday I was afraid to go out, but today I have to go out. The situation has left me without food and I need to find a way. After all, Venezuelans are used to living with fear,” said a single mother in a working-class neighborhood of the oil city of Maracaibo, who bought rice, vegetables and tuna.
It’s unclear how Trump plans to regulate Venezuela.
His remarks about an indefinite military presence in Venezuela echoed those of past invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which ended with U.S. withdrawals after years of costly occupations and thousands of U.S. casualties.
Referring to Venezuelan oil, Trump said the U.S. occupation “won’t cost us a penny” because the U.S. will be compensated “from the money we dig out of the ground.”
Trump’s focus on foreign affairs has drawn criticism from Democrats and risks alienating some supporters of his “America First” agenda and opposition to foreign interference.