The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, was captured in his home country by United States officials and sent to the United States to face criminal charges for narco-terrorism. The former leader is very controversial in his home country of Venezuela for allegedly refusing to step down as president and being a total dictator who ruled with an iron fist. President Trump ordered Maduro to be captured from his safehouse in Venezuela and to be brought to the United States, where he is today. President Donald Trump stated that the United States is not at war with Venezuela, but at war with a dictatorship. Amid the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro, the temporary president isn’t off the hook either, as Donald Trump has threatened the temporary president, Delcy Rodríguez, with worse fates than Maduro.
Amidst all of the controversy, there are a lot of questions surrounding the true motives of President Trump’s orders to arrest Maduro, with the most being pointed towards one thing, with Venezuela having the largest oil reserves on planet Earth. This also leads to the United States seizing oil tankers from the Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., a government-owned oil company that Trump has claimed that he has negotiated with them on a deal that would bring over 50 million barrels of oil to the United States for billions of dollars that Venezuela could use to try and fix its country. A spokesperson for Donald Trump said, “This is not an invasion of Venezuela; this is a liberation against the cruel dictatorship that has plagued Venezuela.”
With the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has a new path forward. This is especially prevalent with the country’s rich supply of oil, according to Trump’s spokesperson, which they can use to help fix their terrible situation and economy. On the other side of this are the protesters who don’t like the fact that the United States is illegally kidnapping a high-end official of a foreign country and destabilizing the region.
There were protesters who were outside the courthouse where Muduro pleaded not guilty. The protesters continued to send the message that Trump should not be allowed to enter a foreign country, kidnap their president, and try them for crimes that they allegedly committed. Also, a lot of high-end Venezuelan officials also criticize the capture of Maduro, in which they say that the power struggle is on and there is no permanent solution.
This claim looks at the Venezuelan people, who are very happy with the removal of Maduro because he destroyed the economy and caused a lot of distress for the average citizens in Venezuela, and has been the reason that Venezuela has been a horrible country to live in. However, with his removal, people are quietly celebrating, but on the other hand, this raises a question: with the removal of Maduro, are any other leaders in South and Central America at risk of being removed by the United States, for more specifically President Donald Trump? We will have to see in the future.
https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/venezuela-maduro-court-trump-01-05-26
https://abcnews.go.com/US/maduro-wife-manhattan-federal-court-monday/story?id=128903135
https://www.cfr.org/article/guide-maduros-capture-and-venezuelas-uncertain-future
