US Attacks Venezuela, Removes President

Caracas, Venezuela —(Map)

Early Saturday morning, under the orders of President Donald Trump, US soldiers attacked Venezuela. The soldiers captured Venezuela president, Nicolás Maduro. He has been brought back to the United States to stand trial.

The attack came as a surprise. Mr. Trump’s government has been building up US forces around Venezuela for months, and has been increasing pressure on the country. Mr. Trump also encouraged Mr. Maduro to step down. But it is highly unusual for one country to invade another country and remove its president.

The attack was made in the early morning. US forces, using over 150 planes, bombed some areas of Venezuela, and cut the power in the capital, Caracas. A group of highly trained soldiers flew by helicopter to capture Mr. Maduro and his wife. Reports say more than 80 people were killed during the attacks.

Mr. Trump claims Mr. Maduro has been shipping drugs to the US, and that this is one of the reasons he had to be removed. Mr. Maduro and his wife were brought to the US, and are currently in a jail in New York. The US Department of Justice plans to put Mr. Maduro on trial.

But the action was also about oil. In a speech on Saturday, Mr. Trump made it clear that giving US companies access to Venezuela’s oil was a major reason for his attack. Venezuela has lots of oil, but the country has been under sanctions that limit how the oil can be sold. Even so, Venezuela had been secretly selling oil to places like Cuba, Russia, and China.

The action was also about oil. In a speech on Saturday, Mr. Trump made it clear that giving US companies access to Venezuela’s oil was a major reason for his attack. Above, an oil pumpjack in Venezuela, run by the government-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.

It’s not entirely clear what will happen in Venezuela now. The US claims it doesn’t have soldiers in Venezuela any more. Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has been sworn in to act as president. But she says she still considers Mr. Maduro to be Venezuela’s “only president”. Ms. Rodríguez described the US action as “kidnapping”.

In a speech after the attack, Mr. Trump said several times that the US would “run” Venezuela. He made it clear that he expected Ms. Rodríguez to support the US, or she would “pay a very big price”.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said that the US won’t be involved in running Venezuela’s government. Instead, he suggested that the US would be using its military power and oil sanctions to pressure Venezuela’s government to do what the US government wants.

Leaders of many countries around the world have condemned the attack, saying that it is illegal. Many people have pointed out that the US actions set an example that could give countries like China and Russia an excuse for making similar attacks.

Many Americans are opposed to the idea of the US getting involved in changing the government of a foreign country. The US has done this several times in the past, and the results have often been messy failures.

Much is still unknown about how things will now work in Venezuela. People around the world will be watching closely to see how the situation develops.