Trump says US needs full access to Venezuela after Maduro's detention
U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States needs full access to Venezuela amid uncertainty over the government following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. He told reporters on board Air Force One on 4 January, returning to Washington from his Palm Beach estate, Bloomberg reports.
According to Trump, the US needs access to oil and other resources, which he claims should help rebuild the country. He also said that US oil companies could spend billions of dollars to rebuild Venezuela's degraded energy infrastructure.
Trump said that the US would work with interim President Delcy Rodriguez, but added that he had not personally spoken to her. Separately, he called the issue of early elections in Venezuela dependent on the situation and stressed that the priority is to restore the country.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez said she invites the US to cooperate on an agenda of engagement that should focus on joint development within the framework of international law. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for his part, said that Washington is focusing on the oil sector and will monitor the reaction of the Venezuelan authorities to US policy.
Trump also repeated a public warning to Rodriguez. He said that if she refuses to do what Washington believes is right, she will face consequences that could be worse than those of Maduro, who is currently on trial in New York on drug, weapons and terrorism charges.