8 Jan (Reuters) – The United States can supervise Venezuela and control its oil revenue for years, US President Donald Trump said in an interview published on Thursday.
During what the New York Times described as a wide-ranging, two-hour interview, the newspaper said Trump also appeared to withdraw a threat to take military action against Colombia, Venezuela’s neighbor. Trump invited the Colombian leftist leader, who he had previously called a ‘sick man’, to visit Washington.
‘Only time will tell’ how long the US will supervise Venezuela, Trump said. When asked by the newspaper whether it would be three months, six months, a year or more, Trump said: ‘I would say a lot longer.’
“We’re going to rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump said of Venezuela, where he sent troops to arrest President Nicolás Maduro in a nighttime raid on Jan. 3.
‘We’re going to use oil and we’re going to get oil. We are lowering oil prices and we will give money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.’
Trump added that the US is “getting along very well” with the government of Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime Maduro loyalist who served as the deposed leader’s vice president.
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‘MARCO TALKS TO HER ALL THE TIME’
The Times said Trump refused to answer questions about why he had decided not to give power to the opposition in Venezuela, which Washington has already deemed the rightful winner of a 2024 election.
Trump on Tuesday unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil that had been trapped in Venezuela under the U.S. blockade.
“They’re giving us everything we think we need,” Trump said, referring to the Venezuelan government.
He declined to comment when asked if he had spoken personally with Rodríguez.
“But Marco talks to her all the time,” he said, referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. ‘I can tell you that we are in constant communication with her and the government.’
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PHONE CALL WITH PETRO
The newspaper said its reporters were allowed to participate in a phone call between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro as long as the contents of the call were not recorded.
In a social media post, Trump said: ‘It was a great honor to speak with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the drug situation and other disagreements we have had. I appreciated your call and tone and look forward to meeting you in the near future.
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Petro described the call, his first with Trump, as cordial.
On Sunday, Trump threatened to take military action against Colombia, calling Petro ‘a sick man who likes to make cocaine and sell it to the US, and he’s not going to do that for a long time.’
The Times said Trump’s phone call with Petro lasted about an hour and ‘appeared to dispel any immediate threat of US military action’.
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