Donald Trump rules out Venezuela elections in the next 30 days, saying the country must be stabilised and fixed before any democratic process
US President Donald Trump declared that Venezuela will not hold new elections in the next 30 days, claiming that the nation must be rebuilt before citizens can cast ballots, only hours after ousted President Nicolas Maduro entered a not guilty plea.
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Trump claimed that following the US operation that resulted in the capture of longtime leader Nicolas Maduro, the situation in Venezuela made elections impossible in the near future.
Trump made his comments two days after Maduro was taken prisoner in Venezuela by US forces operating under Operation Absolute Resolve. After being flown to the US, he was charged with cocaine importation and narco-terrorism conspiracy in a New York court.
TRUMP: No elections in the near future
“First, we must fix the nation. An election is not possible. The people can’t even cast ballots,” Trump declared. “Nope, it will require some time. We have a duty to restore the nation’s health.
According to Trump, Washington is now thinking about how to reconstruct Venezuela’s damaged economy, with an emphasis on reviving its oil industry. He claimed that in order to assist in repairing and restarting Venezuela’s energy infrastructure, the government is considering ideas that would entail providing subsidies to US oil corporations.
Trump claimed that although the reconstruction work would need a large financial commitment, it could be finished really fast.
He stated, “I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money,” alluding to a projected completion date of fewer than 18 months. “A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.”
Although Venezuela has some of the greatest proven oil reserves in the world, production has been drastically reduced due to years of poor management, sanctions, and deteriorating infrastructure.
“NOT AT WAR WITH VENEZUELA”
Trump denied that Washington is officially at war with Venezuela, even though the US military operation resulted in Maduro’s detention.
“No, we’re not,” he replied. “We are engaged in a struggle against drug dealers. We are engaged in a conflict with those who release drug users, prisoners, and mental health facilities into our nation.
The effort against Maduro has been presented by the White House as a component of a larger strategy to target transnational crime and drug trafficking organizations associated with Venezuela.
Trump also identified senior individuals who will be in charge of monitoring US engagement in Venezuela as the situation develops during the about 20-minute conversation.
These officials include Vice President JD Vance, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
VENEZUELA’S INTERIM LEADERSHIP DEMANDS SET BY TRUMP
According to a Politico story, as tensions continue, the Trump administration has started pressuring Venezuela’s interim government to enact a series of pro-US policies that Maduro had long opposed.
The temporary leader, Delcy Rodriguez, has been informed by US officials that some steps must be taken if she is to avoid the same fate as her predecessor. According to a US official familiar with administration meetings, these include more aggressive measures to stop the flow of drugs, the expulsion of Iranian, Cuban, and other operatives with ties to regimes that could be a threat to the US, and a halt to oil sales to regimes that are US adversaries, as reported by Politico.
Additionally, officials want Rodriguez, who took over as president after serving as vice president, to organize free elections before resigning.