Trump says US oversight of Venezuela could last years
SOURCE:Sydney Morning Herald|BY:Patricia Zengerle
But the US president appears to have backed down on a threat of military action against Colombia. Meanwhile, the Senate has delivered a rare pushback against him.
Washington: The US Senate has voted to advance a resolution that would bar Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional authorisation, even as the US president said American oversight of the troubled nation could last years.
In a rare rebuke of Trump, the Senate voted 52 to 47 on a procedural measure to advance the war powers resolution, as a handful of the president’s fellow Republicans voted with Democrats in favour of moving ahead towards a final vote on the matter.
President Donald Trump said the US was “getting along very well” with the government of Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez.Credit: AP
Earlier, Trump told The New York Times in an interview published on Thursday that the US could oversee Venezuela and control its oil revenue for years.
He also appeared to lift a threat of military action against Venezuela’s neighbour, Colombia. Trump invited its leftist leader – whom he had previously called a “sick man” – to visit Washington.
“Only time will tell” how long the US would oversee Venezuela, Trump said. When asked by the Times if it would be three months, six months, a year or longer, Trump said: “I would say much longer.”
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump said of the South American country to which he sent troops to seize president Nicolás Maduro in a night raid on Saturday.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro speaks during an anti-Trump rally in Bogota this week.Credit: Getty
He added that the US was “getting along very well” with the government of interim President Delcy Rodríguez, a longstanding Maduro loyalist who had served as the ousted leader’s vice president.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s top lawmaker, Jorge Rodriguez, said that a significant number of both foreign and Venezuelan prisoners would be freed during the day.
The liberations, a repeated demand of the country’s political opposition, are a gesture of peace, Rodriguez said, adding the action was unilateral and not agreed upon with any other party.
Top opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s movement, as well as that of other opposition figures and human rights groups, have demanded the release of political prisoners since the US capture of Maduro.
Local rights group Foro Penal estimates there are 863 political prisoners in the country, including political figures, human rights activists, protesters arrested after the disputed 2024 election, and journalists.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the planned prisoner release.
In an interview with Fox News Channel’s Hannity, Trump said he planned to meet with Machado when she visited Washington next week.
The Times reported Trump declined to answer questions about why he had decided not to give power in Venezuela to the opposition, which Washington had previously considered the legitimate winner of the 2024 election.
The Senate vote was a significant victory for lawmakers who have been arguing that Congress, not the president, should have the power to send troops to war, as spelt out in the Constitution.
After the vote, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia – a co-sponsor of the resolution, alongside Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul – said it was a “big victory”.
“None of us should want this president, or any president, to take our sons and daughters to war without notice, consultation, debate and vote in Congress,” Kaine said.
However, the measure faces a steep climb to become law. It would need to be passed by the House of Representatives – which is also controlled by Trump’s Republicans.
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If both chambers pass the resolution, each would need to secure a two-thirds majority to override a likely Trump veto. But it marked a rare sign of congressional Republican pushback against the Trump White House.
The five Republicans who voted to move ahead were Paul, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Todd Young of Indiana. Trump’s party holds a 53-47 majority in the Senate.
Trump said the five “should never be elected to office again”.
“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America,” he said on his Truth Social website.
Senators who opposed the resolution said Maduro’s seizure was a law enforcement operation, not a military action. Maduro faces trial in a US court on drug and gun charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Opponents also said Trump was within his rights as commander-in-chief to launch limited military actions.
The New York Times said its reporters were permitted to sit in during a phone call between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, provided the contents of the call were off the record.
In a post on social media, Trump said: “It was a great honour to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had. I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future.”
Petro described the call – his first with Trump – as cordial. Trump on Tuesday unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been stuck in Venezuela under US blockade.
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Venezuela, with the world’s biggest proven oil reserves, has become impoverished in recent decades, with 8 million people fleeing abroad in one of the world’s biggest migration crises.
Washington and the Venezuelan opposition have long blamed corruption, mismanagement and brutality by the ruling Socialist Party. Maduro blamed the economic damage on US sanctions.
Trump is scheduled to meet with the heads of major oil companies at the White House on Friday to discuss ways of raising Venezuela’s oil production. Representatives from the top three US oil companies, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron, would be present, according to a source familiar with the planning.
