BREAKING: Analysis of Trump Press Conference re Venezuelan Strikes & Maduro Capture

Latin America Correspondent Jon Bonfiglio speaks to Carole Walker for Times Radio on the unpredecented press conference given by President Donald Trump after the events of the last 12 hours in Venezuela. 

Transcript

Carole Walker: 0:00

Jon Bonfiglio, who's been listening to all of that. Jon, uh very good afternoon to you. Uh I mean, well, where do we start? Um first of all, uh just the extraordinary detail that we heard there from President Trump about that audacious operation by US forces.

Jon Bonfiglio: 0:20

Yeah, I mean, um I mean we live in a world in which unprecedented um staggering events take place on a on a on a daily basis. But what took place last night by any sort of historic international standards is absolutely uh staggering. Of course, um it began with the wide-ranging missile strikes in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, and further afield on military and infrastructure targets. But then the incredible uh news was released of the capture and removal from uh Venezuela of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Celia Flores, which nobody really accepted uh expected at all. It was only really the only sort of um tip-off to the fact that something else was happening were these ongoing reports coming out of Caracas of um of locals and citizens hearing helicopters moving around um uh the city. And it was that which sort of alerted us to the fact that something else was going on, that it wasn't just a military strike. And of course, Maduro and Flores, uh Celia Flores, his wife now currently on the USS Iwajima, headed to New York, where they will face, in the words of US Attorney General Pam Bondi, American justice uh on American soil in American courts.

Carole Walker: 1:32

Yeah, and uh we heard that Maduro is on his way to the United States. Um perhaps the most astonishing uh factor in that uh long news conference was President Trump saying we're going to run the country until there can be a just transition. And he also seemed to indicate that uh Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, has already been in touch with um the vice president, who of course was Maduro's vice president. What's your understanding of what he was talking about, about what's gonna happen in Venezuela now?

Jon Bonfiglio: 2:10

Well, it's it's it's really unclear. I mean, actually, that there were an there's a number of big questions of course that emerged um overnight that we didn't necessarily expect to be answered during this press conference, but actually it was such an unprecedented, staggering press conference. We cr a number of um uh Rubicon sort of moments were were crossed in that. As you say, the first one I think was when he said that we're going to, you know, he made no bones about it, we're going to take over the country until we can do a safe, proper, and judicious uh transition. And that is, you know, in terms of the US saying that it is going to take over the functioning of another country, is is completely unprecedented. He then went on to say, reference back 200 years in uh US history, and he didn't just uh reference the Monroe Doctrine, which of course refers to the fact that the Western Hemisphere is predominantly for use at the behest, at the service of um of the United States, but he said that they would supersede the the Monroe uh doctrine. And then you add to that the fact that um again, not hiding about the fact about the the US's interest in in oil, that was the sort of the brazenness in which that was discussed. He said that the US would be very strongly involved in Venezuela's oil industry, and it and it marks a continuation of this recent shift in rhetoric in which the United States has it, that Venezuelan oil actually belongs to the USA and was stolen by Venezuela, which when it expropriated its its resources 20 years ago, he spoke openly of needing Venezuelan oil, of wanting Venezuelan oil, and then selling it on. And then finally, I think what was really interesting was when Marco Rubio emphasized that the the action that took place overnight in terms of the detention and the removal of Maduro, that it was actually a law enforcement function and not a military function, despite the fact that it was undertaken by a Delta elite unit. And of course, this plays to the ongoing disquiet in Congress with the fact that all of these military actions, historically, uh as a matter of protocol, require congressional oversight. But by calling them law enforcement functions and emphasizing the illegality of the Maduro of Maduro's behavior over time.

Carole Walker: 4:18

I mean, the key thing seems to be what happens with the Venezuelan military now, um, which President Trump described as being completely overwhelmed in that operation to take out Maduro.

Jon Bonfiglio: 4:31

Yeah, my understanding is that Vice President Delcid Rodriguez, Maduro's um second in command, has now been sworn in. Uh at the press conference as well, we heard that Marco Rubia had already had a conversation uh with her and they were discussing next steps. So it's um uh presumably what is what is taking place here now is is overt pressure on the on the remnants uh of uh of Maduro's um inner circle to say uh either you play ball or we do this again with this aforementioned second wave. I'll add one thing if I if I may, Carol, which is I've also been looking at American business responses uh during the course of this morning, America's time. And there's been a lot of really interesting um language that has emerged on um on sort of mercantile forums in the USA uh relating to the action overnight and Venezuelan markets, which talks about the unlocking of economies, which has spoken, which speaks openly of a bonanza, of the fact that markets which are off limits are now opening up. And that one particular commentator spoke about the fact that this will fuel, this action, an event will fuel animal spirits among US investors.

Carole Walker: 5:36

Yeah, I mean, it it is extraordinary the way he talked about uh the oil reserves, the oil facilities in Venezuela. Uh and he thought he seemed at some stage to say, Oh, we're gonna trade, we're gonna be rich. Oh no, the people of Venezuela are going to be rich. But it did seem as though Venezuela's oil facilities were a key part of all of this.

Jon Bonfiglio: 5:59

Yeah, there's there's little doubt, and I would I would extend that and say that it's not just a question of oil, it's also a question of rare earth minerals and a question of gold um and other assets. Um, it is important to remember that actually Venezuela's um sort of almost economic bankruptcy over the course of the last 10-15 years make it actually the most viable uh country in South America for sort of an economic uh takeover investment. And he actually, I mean, he said again openly, there's so many staggering moments in this press conference, he said that they would be taking money out of the country. And then, as you say, he then sort of almost self-corrected to say that actually it'd be the Venezuelan people that would that would make the money from this.

Carole Walker: 6:39

What about um this question of the Venezuelan opposition leader? Because of course Maduro was hugely unpopular in Venezuela. Uh he's deemed to have stolen the election. Um the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado uh has been talking about how the rightful president should be restored. Um but President Trump said um she doesn't have support within or respect within the country. Um, do you get any sense of I mean what kind of future there could be for Venezuela's opposition leaders and and just how the people on the ground in Venezuela are going to react to all of this?

Jon Bonfiglio: 7:20

I mean it it is worth um underscoring that, of course, um uh the Venezuelan people, there's no two ways around it, have suffered uh hugely at the hands of of Maduro and the Chavista regime for uh for an extended um period of time in Venezuela, which is historically one of the breadbaskets of South America, is is now its its poorest country and um you know has experienced uh the the biggest exodus, the biggest mass movement of people out of the country in the history of of Latin America. So of course, most of these people are are desperate for change, have been desperate for a change for a long time. And actually, what comes next is less important than getting rid of what was there in the first place. So that's an undoubted truth. As regards the Venezuelan opposition, and uh whether Maria Karina Machado um assumes some kind of position of political power or transitional power, there's certainly a sort of a kingmaker aspect to her uh to her continuing role and her ear, the ear that she has of the of the US president. A big question now is uh Edmundo Gonzalez, uh who we last saw in in Spain, who was the opposition candidate that uh it was uh perceived had the election stolen from them in Venezuela last summer. Will will Edmundo Gonzalez be returning to Venezuela anytime soon? We can certainly expect, as with the photo of Nicolas Maduro uh blindfolded and um with headphones on on the USS Iwo Jima, I think we can expect a number of very strong television uh or made for television moments upcoming with regards to these stories, related stories over the course of the next few days.

Carole Walker: 8:53

John Bonfilio, uh Times uh Latin America correspondent. Uh it's been great to have your thoughts. Uh thank you so much for joining us this afternoon.

Jon Bonfiglio: 9:03

No problem, take care.