In Venezuela after Maduro, a common refrain: The oil is ours
Like many other Venezuelans, Ramón Arape said the detention of former President Nicolás Maduro in the United States was a striking and welcome sight.
“I must admit that I was relieved when I saw Maduro’s photo in their hands. los gringos” said Arape, 59, a welder and father of three.
But President Trump’s comments about Washington’s determination to take over the government and the oil industry, the nation’s defining natural resource, were less reassuring.
“We already had this problem with foreigners (Cubans, Iranians, Chinese), and now the Americans want to come, appoint their leaders and sell our oil?” said Arape, referring to Maduro’s socialist governments and a host of foreign allies sought by his predecessor, Hugo Chavez. “This is a violation of law and sovereignty.”
Many Venezuelans are hoping for salvation, but it appears it will not come at the price of selling off the country’s riches. As Washington embarks on a massive nation-building initiative in South America, one of the big questions is how this will play out with Trump’s view that Venezuela is “stealing” a US-made oil industry.
Like many other countries, Venezuela nationalized its oil industry in the 20th century; This process began in the 1970s under a US-allied government in Caracas. Several US oil giants later filed allegations of illegal expropriation against the government of Maduro’s mentor Chavez. But few here seemed inclined to believe Trump’s claim on social media that Venezuela should return “all the Oil, Land and other Assets they previously stole from us.”
It was just a day after the shocking events on Sunday, when US forces entered the capital and whisked Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from the Miraflores Palace, the seat of government, and flew them out of the country and eventually to New York, where both face drug trafficking charges. Both deny the accusations and say they are US propaganda.
Venezuelans with internet access had the opportunity to view the unusual image of Maduro, dressed for subtropical temperatures, flanked by federal agents, marching criminally through a military base in New York, and apparently saying “Happy New Year” to onlookers.
Life in Venezuela’s capital was slowly returning to normal on Sunday, albeit at a weekend pace.
Cars and some public transport were roaming the streets that were abandoned the day before. People who spent most of Saturday indoors left their homes cautiously because they were afraid of explosions and possible consequences. Many people went to church in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. Sermons called for peace.
There was a palpable sense of relief that the threat of war had receded, at least temporarily. Many were still absorbing the almost incredible turn of events that had certainly changed the future of the country, albeit in still unpredictable ways.
But there was an overriding determination among both supporters and critics of the ousted president that the nation’s oil and other resources were sacred and would not be turned over to the United States or anyone else.
“It was really emotional to finally see Maduro and Cilia handcuffed and sentenced,” said Fernando González, a 29-year-old plumber who said he supports Nobel Peace Prize winner and longtime opposition leader Marína Corina Machado. “These two should pay for their crimes. We thank Trump for that. But that doesn’t mean we agree with everything he wants to do.”
The president’s determination to “rule” Venezuela and take over its oil did not sit well with González, an ardent nationalist in a country with a long history of nationalist activism.
“This would all be a farce if they got rid of Maduro to seize the oil and sell it,” he said. “It can’t be this way. We want progress, change, but we want a transition led by Venezuelans. Not everything can be in the will of the Americans.”
González saw a role for the United States: “To help us deal with this social drama of a poor country.” But he added: “They must respect our will.”
Welder Arape summed up the thoughts of many. “We didn’t do all this so Trump could name his own people and take over our oil,” he said.
On Saturday, Trump said, “We will govern the country until we can make a safe, appropriate and sensible transition.” But on Sunday, administration officials walked back that statement, saying the United States would pressure the Venezuelan government to accept U.S. demands.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the threat of further military action would serve as “leverage” on the Venezuelan government.
In Caracas, confusion about the future was a common sentiment among both critics and supporters of Maduro.
“We want to know who is really responsible,” said William Rojas, 31, a father of two who lives in the El Valle district, which has long been a Maduro stronghold.
At a press conference on Saturday, Trump said Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, had been appointed interim president; This fact was apparently confirmed by the government broadcaster Telesur on Sunday. But in a speech at the Miraflores Palace on Saturday, Rodríguez demanded that Washington extradite the “kidnapped” Maduro, whom he called the country’s “only” president.
“Delcy Rodríguez says Maduro remains president, but he is no longer here,” Rojas said. “So how were they able to remove him? Who betrayed our president?”
“We can’t live with the thought that Trump and Marco Rubio are the ones really running us! We’re completely confused.”
Amid all this uncertainty, authorities have urged people to return to daily patterns, as if Maduro was still around.
There was still no official death toll from Saturday’s raid. In a speech, Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino López described the operation as a “cowardly kidnapping” carried out “after coldly assassinating a large part of the president’s security team, soldiers and innocent civilians,” according to Telesur.
Padrino called on Venezuelans to return to work and school, adding: “I call on the Venezuelan people to have peace, to order, not to be led by the temptations or the psychological warfare, the threats, the fear that they want to impose on us.”
Special correspondent Mogollón reported from Caracas and staff writer McDonnell reported from Boston.
