Trump posts photo of handcuffed, blindfolded Maduro
US President Donald Trump posted a photo on Saturday, Jan 3, of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in custody on a US naval ship and wearing both a blindfold and handcuffs.
"Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Since Trump took office for his second term, he has put Maduro squarely in his sights, pursuing a maximum pressure campaign against the Venezuelan regime.
He accused Maduro of being behind destabilising activity in the Americas, including drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
The Venezuelan leader had on what appeared to be noise-canceling ear muffs and grey Nike-branded sweatpants and jacket.
Trump said Saturday he would allow American oil companies to head into Venezuela to tap its massive crude reserves after a US military operation that seized the country's leader Nicolas Maduro.
"We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country," Trump told a press conference.
Trump also said "the embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect."
As part of a weeks-long military pressure campaign against Venezuela in the run-up to the raid, US forces seized at least two oil tankers that Washington said were subject to US sanctions.
Trump also warned other political and military figures in Venezuela, saying that "what happened to Maduro can happen to them."
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| Caracas bombardment |
Trump has openly flirted with the idea of regime change in Venezuela. In late November, Trump gave Maduro an ultimatum to relinquish power, offering him safe passage out of the country.
Maduro refused the offer, telling supporters in Venezuela that he did not want “a slave’s peace”.
Venezuela has been under US oil sanctions since 2019. It produces about a million barrels of crude per day. It sells most on the black market at steep discounts.
It was the largest, most direct US action in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion.
The lightning operation stunned the international community, allies and adversaries of the US alike, which were taken aback by the brazen interference in a foreign country.
At a Mar-a-Lago news conference, Trump said that the US would “run the country” until a leadership transition can take place.
He even claimed - “no nation in the would could achieve what America achieved”.
The bombardment of Venezuela and the capture of Maduro is a serious and dramatic escalation of the US campaign.
The future of Venezuela’s ruling regime remains uncertain. Despite Trump’s statements that the US will decide the fate of the country, the Venezuelan military appears to remain in control of the country and its military assets.
Old story --- takes ugly turn in New Year - 2026
Relations between Washington and Venezuela plummet in 1999 after arrival in power of President Hugo Chavez, Latin America's leftist firebrand.
In 2006, US \under George W. Bush bans the sale of weapons and US-made military equipment to Venezuela
By 2010, the two countries no longer have ambassadors in each other's capital.
- 2014: accusations of human rights violations -
After Chavez dies in 2013, Nicolas Maduro takes over.
US under Barack Obama imposes slap sanctions on several top Venezuelan officials.
Washington accuses Venezuela of rights breaches in its violent crackdown on demonstrations against Maduro.
- 2017: Trump raises 'military option' -
The first adminstration of Donald Trump in 2017 slaps financial sanctions on several top officials, including members of the supreme court, for having undermined the powers of parliament.
The legislative body had been under the control of the opposition since late 2015.
After Maduro created a Constituent Assembly to override parliament, Washington imposes sanctions on him, freezing his assets in the United States.
Trump for the first time speaks of a "military option" in Venezuela, a threat he would go on to repeat over the coming years.
Washington bans the purchase of bonds issued by the Venezuelan government and by national oil company PDVSA.
- 2019: Sanctions toughened -
After Maduro's re-election, which Washington and other capitals consider a sham, Trump in 2019 toughens economic sanctions with the aim of strangling the country and ousting Maduro.
Caracas severs diplomatic relations after the United States, followed by dozens of other countries, recognises opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.
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