US involvement in Venezuela could last years, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said his country’s intervention in Venezuela could last for years.

He told the New York Times “Only time will tell” how long Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro’s administration will “oversee” the running of the South American nation after he was captured by US forces in a raid on Saturday.

Trump also did not make a statement about whether or when elections would be held in Venezuela to replace the interim government headed by Maduro loyalist Delcy Rodríguez.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Maduro’s overthrow started an “irreversible process” that will make Venezuela “free.”

New York Times (NYT) journalists asked Trump about his plans for the future of Venezuela, days after he said his administration would rule the oil-rich country.

Earlier Wednesday, the White House said the United States would control sanctioned oil sales “indefinitely.”

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has argued that the US should gain control over Venezuela’s oil sales to exert influence over the interim government in Caracas.

Trump said his administration would “buy oil” from Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven reserves, but acknowledged it “will take some time” to get the country’s oil industry up and running.

Venezuela’s oil production has plummeted due to mismanagement by the Maduro government and its predecessor, as well as years of US sanctions.

Trump told the NYT that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in “constant communication” with Rodríguez, who was designated as Venezuela’s interim leader by the Maduro loyalist-dominated country’s Supreme Court.

He added that Rodríguez “gave us everything we thought was necessary.”

The US president has previously said the interim government has agreed to use revenue from oil sales only to buy US-made goods.

According to NYT reporters, Trump did not answer questions about why he recognized Rodríguez as the new leader of Venezuela.

Many Venezuela analysts expected the repatriation of opposition leaders Edmundo González and María Corina Machado to occur quickly following Maduro’s ouster.

But in his first press conference after the US raid, Trump belittled Machado and claimed Machado lacked the “respect” and support to lead Venezuela.

“I think it will be very difficult for him to be a leader,” he said.

Machado managed to unite opposition groups behind him ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, but he was prevented from running for president by officials loyal to the Maduro government.

He then threw his weight behind González, the former diplomat who acted as his deputy.

The electoral council, which includes government loyalists in the majority, declared Maduro re-elected. But votes collected by the opposition and independently verified show González winning by a landslide.

González went into exile to escape the government crackdown that followed the election, and Machado went into hiding in Venezuela.

He embarked on a perilous journey by land, sea and air to reach Oslo in December to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for his “tireless work defending democratic rights” in Venezuela.

His current whereabouts are unknown, but he said he plans to return to Venezuela soon.

In an interview with Venezuelan opposition news site La PatillaHe insisted that Maduro’s ouster had put his country on an irreversible path towards freedom.

He said he hoped this new phase of the transition would be “as short and rapid as possible.”

He added that the interim government, which he said was “identical to the regime under Maduro,” had “been given instructions to disband itself.”

Machado insisted that González was the legitimate president-elect and called for his office to be respected.

He emphasized that the “first thing” that should happen is the release of political prisoners.

Machado is not the only one demanding the release of more than 800 political prisoners held in Venezuela’s notorious prisons.

On Wednesday, Republican lawmaker María Elvira Salazar published several posts on social media insisting on their “immediate” release.

But Trump “seemed more focused on the rescue mission than on the details of how he would direct Venezuela’s future” in his interview with the NYT, according to journalists who spoke with him.

When asked what the US plans were for Venezuela, he said: “We will rebuild it very profitably.”

He added: “We will use oil and we will buy oil. We will lower oil prices and give Venezuela the money they desperately need.”

The US president is expected to meet with representatives of the three largest US oil companies at the White House on Friday to discuss these plans in more detail.

Meanwhile, the US Senate voted 52-47 on Thursday to pass a resolution aimed at blocking the Trump administration from taking further military action in Venezuela.

The vote cleared the way for debate on the resolution, which references the War Powers Act, but another vote will be needed for final passage.

This marks the first time during the second Trump administration that the Senate has voted to restrict the president’s use of military force.

But that decision remains largely symbolic because it’s unclear whether it would also clear the House of Representatives, and if so, the president could still use his veto power to block it.