Murat SofuogluThe US targeted Venezuelan military bases in at least three cities, including the country’s capital, Caracas, on early Saturday as the Trump administration announced the capture of Nicholas Maduro and his wife.
The unprecedented development comes after a Monday attack by the US military on a Venezuelan dock, which was allegedly used for drug operations. Washington accuses Maduro and his close circle of patronising drug cartels, a charge Caracas vehemently denies.
But the big question remains if the US would be able to succeed in stabilising the financially-strapped Venezuela after it completely topples the Maduro government.
“The United States has invaded Venezuela and captured its president. The US will take Maduro to Guantanamo (rather than the US) because they can hold him incommunicado,” says Edward Erickson, a leading American military analyst and a retired professor of military history at the Department of War Studies at the Marine Corps University.
“Regime change has rarely worked out for America. Iran, Vietnam, Chile, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya. We might say that Panama worked out, but all the rest became huge problems,” Erickson tells TRT World.
Trump has long argued that the US seeks regime change in Venezuela, an oil-rich country like Iraq. Venezuela’s socialist government was closely aligned with Russia, China and Iran. Moscow and Tehran condemned US attacks on Venezuela.
But after the initial shock of the attack and reported capture of Maduro in an American special forces operation, the socialist leadership of Venezuela sounded defiant, calling a nationalistic resistance against “American imperialism”.
“This invasion represents the greatest outrage the country has suffered,” said Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez after American attacks.
“They have attacked us, but they will not make us bend. United, soldier and civilian, we will form an indestructible wall of resistance," he added. “We who extend the hand in brotherhood today close the fist in defence of what is ours.”
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez demanded from the US an immediate “proof of life” information about the lives of President Maduro and his wife during an audio call to state-run VTV Venezuela. The US strikes have led to many deaths, including officials, military personnel and civilians across Venezuela, she added.
The country’s foreign ministry also condemned American attacks, urging a UN Security Council meeting on US strikes on Venezuela.
This is a developing story…
