US President Donald Trump said on Monday (22) that it would be smart for Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro to leave power and that the Americans could keep the oil they seized off the coast of the South American country in recent weeks or sell it.
The Trump administration’s pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s regime included an increase in military presence in the region and more than two dozen military attacks against vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, near the South American country. At least 100 people died in the attacks.
Asked if the objective was to force Maduro from power, the American president told reporters:
“Well, I think probably so… That’s up to him, what he wants to do. I think it would be smart of him to do that. But then again, we’ll find out.”
