US President Donald Trump said on Friday he had canceled a previously expected second wave of attacks on Venezuela following cooperation from the South American nation.
Trump said the US and Venezuela were working well together, adding that at least $100 billion would be invested by the “big oil” companies in Venezuela.
He added, however, that all oil tankers in Venezuela “will stay in place for safety and security purposes”.
The US Senate voted on Thursday to advance a resolution that would bar President Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional authorisation, even as Trump said US oversight of the troubled nation could last years.
The Senate voted 52 to 47 on a procedural measure to advance the war powers resolution, as a handful of Trump’s fellow Republicans voted with every Democrat in favour of moving ahead toward a final vote on the matter.
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 Colombia’s leftist leader, whom he had previously called a “sick man,” to visit Washington.
“Only time will tell” how long the United States will oversee Venezuela, Trump said. When asked by the newspaper 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 Venezuela, where he sent troops to seize President Nicolas Maduro in a night raid on Saturday.
Trump added that the US was “getting along very well” with the government of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, a longstanding Maduro loyalist who had served as the ousted leader’s vice president.
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