Earlier, Trump threatened the now president of Venezuela if she didn’t follow his orders: ‘If she doesn’t do what’s right, she will pay a very high price
The Secretary of State of the United States, , stated that the country will not react to the condemnation made by the interim president of Venezuela, , of the American attack that arrested him and his wife on Saturday (3). During a press conference after the attack, American President Donald Trump stated that Rodríguez – who was Maduro’s vice president and assumed the presidency on an interim basis – was “essentially willing to do whatever we deem necessary.” But in her own statement, the Venezuelan condemned the attack and demanded Maduro’s release.
Rubio disregarded Rodríguez’s comments in an interview with ABC News this Sunday, 4. “Rhetoric is one thing. We see rhetoric for a lot of different reasons, especially hours after the person who was previously in charge of the country was handcuffed,” he said.
“Let’s not judge the future based solely on what is said in press conferences,” he said. “We want to see concrete actions” The secretary added: “What we will react to is very simple: what do you do? Not what you say publicly,” he continued. “Do drugs stop coming? Are changes made? Is Iran expelled?”
If these issues are not addressed by the interim president, Rubio said the US “retains the options it had before the attack,” with a maritime quarantine on Venezuela and sanctions. “I can’t emphasize enough how damaging this would be to their future,” he said.
In an interview with The Atlantic on Sunday, . “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she’s going to pay a very high price,” he said. “Probably bigger than Maduro.”
Venezuelan military maintains confrontation position
The interim president of Venezuela is not the only public figure in the country to publicly demonstrate opposition to American action. This Sunday, the 4th, the Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, rejected any idea that the United States would govern the country, as Donald Trump had stated a day earlier.
“Our sovereignty has been violated and infringed,” said Padrino López, flanked by uniformed soldiers. He demanded Maduro’s immediate release and called the US operation an “act of profound malice.”
The death toll in the action, which includes military and civilian personnel, reached 80 this Sunday, according to a senior Venezuelan official. No American service members were killed, according to a U.S. official.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
