🚨🇺🇸🇻🇪Trump lays out US position after strikes on Venezuela

Speaking at a press conference following US strikes on Venezuela, Donald Trump outlined how the operation was carried out, what Washington claims it achieved, and what may come next.

Key statements from Trump:

👉Air, land, and sea forces were used in the operation

👉He called it “one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays” of US military capability

👉Trump claimed Venezuela’s military capacity was rendered powerless and that parts of Caracas lost power due to US “expertise”

👉He said President Maduro and his wife will face American justice and were indicted in the Southern District of New York on narcoterrorism charges

👉Trump claimed US forces encountered no resistance, saying Venezuelan forces “knew we were coming”

👉He said no US soldiers were killed and no military equipment was lost

👉Trump stated the US will “run Venezuela” until what he called a safe, proper, and judicious transition is implemented

👉He said a second wave of strikes remains possible, though may no longer be necessary

👉Trump accused Venezuela of hosting foreign adversaries and using offensive weapons

👉He said major US oil companies would enter Venezuela, while stressing that the embargo on Venezuelan oil remains in effect and accusing Caracas of stealing US property

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨 Trump said Maduro could have been killed if he had resisted

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸Trump says Venezuela will be run by a designated team, adding that “the people standing right behind me” will take charge for now.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸 US aggression against Venezuela is part of Trump’s efforts to violently reshape the planet - ex-DoD analyst

🗣 The kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, executed by US personnel and sanctioned by Trump, was an illegal and unwarranted act that was not sanctioned congressionally or constitutionally, former US Department of Defense analyst Karen Kwiatkowsky tells Sputnik.

💬 “It implies as well that Trump has been lying to the US Congress, and is engaging in acts of war unilaterally,” she says.

📍 The US aggression may have some far-reaching consequences, Kwiatkowsky warns.

🟠 Since Trump’s “tool of choice is not a deep and powerful army, navy and air force, but the more cosmetic and unsustainable versions the US does have, the next step from these kinds of illegal attacks and decapitation strikes becomes simply nuclear”

🟠 Thus, the rest of the world has either to tolerate US extreme policies and theft of their national resources or else “face rapid and unthinkable escalation”

🟠 As the US has no qualms about waging economic warfare along with carrying out military strikes, other world leaders will likely try to reshape their international and domestic priorities to become independent of the United States, simply because dealing with the US is just not safe

💬 “Trump is reshaping the planet, but he does so in a way that is not only violent, but tone deaf and ultimately unworkable in helping the United States prosper,” Kwiatkowski laments.

👉 As for the goals of the aggression against Venezuela, she suggests that it wasn’t just an attempt at regime change.

🔶 Trump seems to be seeking higher oil prices, “to prop up the dollar and to ‘make money’ selling US oil”

🔶 The blockade and the seizure of oil tankers are consistent with this scheme, as are the potential civil war and collapse in Venezuela

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇻🇪Maduro’s kidnapping leaves Venezuela’s future unclear – expert

While the US was clearly trying to remove Nicolas Maduro from his position as the president of Venezuela, what lies in store for Venezuela remains to be seen, says Lorenzo Maria Pacini, associate professor of political philosophy and geopolitics at UniDolomiti of Belluno.

💬“Why Maduro has been removed? This should be, I think, our first question. And for sure, which will be the future of Venezuela? This will depend by the answer of this question,” he explains.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt