In the early hours of Saturday morning, Venezuelans awoke to the sound of U.S. helicopters overhead. Per President Donald Trump, the U.S. conducted a “large-scale strike” on facilities in what he has dubbed the “narco state” of Venezuela.
The U.S. has arrested Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Hours after the swift operation, Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed the U.S. government’s charges against the now-deposed Venezuelan leader: narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, drug trafficking, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.
Then, in a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela “until such time that we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”
Why did Trump decide to act in Venezuela? Are the administration’s actions legal? What will happen to Maduro when he reaches American soil? And what will come next—both for Venezuela and for U.S. foreign policy?
Join The Free Press today to make sense of this extraordinary news. We’re kicking things off with a 1:30 p.m. ET livestream with The Free Press’s Rafaela Siewert and contributors Niall Ferguson and Elliott Abrams.
Paid subscribers can join the livestream here.
We also have two initial pieces for you on the news. The first, by Free Press staff writer Eli Lake, recaps how Donald Trump took out Venezuela’s strongman—and why. Read Eli’s essential account of what led to this bold move, and what could come next.
The second is from Venezuelan writer Quico Toro. Venezuelans around the world are celebrating, says Quico. But he asks: What will come next for his country? Read his thoughts here:
To go deeper on Venezuela, listen to Bari Weiss’s interview with opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado:
Stay tuned for more from The Free Press on this story in the coming days.
Could the actual elected leader, Maria Machado, be appointed president rather than the illegitimate vice president of Venezuela?
Niall Ferguson is the Scottish gift to America that keeps on giving.
As the Professor stated in regards to Venezuela “It’s the Monroe Doctrine” stupid. It is a doctrine that came into being a few years ago for the sole purpose of keeping Europe out of Latin America. During the Kaiserzeit Germany attempted to set up a rump state in Mexico promising to restore Mexican sovereignty over the Southwestern U.S.; This naturally antagonized President Wilson. Khrushchev attempted to place Soviet missiles in Cuber. Today it’s China, Russia & Iran that have their tentacles in Latin America. Is it possible that we could see Chinese missiles in Venezuela? After all the U.S. military is ensconced in Korea & the Philippines.
As for the China-Taiwan issue the Prof. was ambivalent. Xi is faced with a dilemma that’s twofold. China can overwhelm Taiwan but at what cost in Chinese manpower killed or wounded. In addition Trump is unpredictable thus Trump’s response would be unpredictable. It’s all about semi-conductors.