US President Donald Trump late Sunday issued another stern warning to Venezuela, saying the US would launch another strike “if they don’t behave.” Invoking the Monroe Doctrine, he defended America’s recent Operation Absolute Resolve and the strikes on Venezuela that led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who were taken into US custody.The strong US military action in Venezuela resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday, just hours after a dramatic operation unfolded in the capital city of Caracas.
Speaking about the strikes in Venezuela and invoking the Monroe Doctrine, Trump said, “It’s about peace on Earth. We’ve got to have peace. It’s our hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine was very important when it was done, and other Presidents, a lot of them, lost sight of it. I didn’t…”He added, “I knew the possible danger, it was a very dangerous operation. We had a few injured, but all are in good shape right now…One of the helicopters got hit pretty badly, but we got everything back, and nobody was killed…Don’t ask me who’s in charge because I’ll give you an answer and it’ll be very controversial… We’re in charge.”Maduro and his wife are being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre and will face federal charges and trial on grounds of drug trafficking and working with cartels.Also Read |Rubio says US won’t govern Venezuela, clarifies Trump’s ‘run the country’ remarksThe pair have been charged in the Southern District of New York with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess those weapons.Maduro has repeatedly rejected allegations that he is a cartel leader, accusing the US of using its “war on drugs” as a pretext to target Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, estimated at about 303 billion barrels, nearly one-fifth of the world’s total, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
