President Donald Trump threatened that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez will “pay a very big price” if she doesn’t “do what’s right” and cooperate with U.S. intervention into the country following the attack and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Trump told The Atlantic on Sunday that Rodriguez could face a fate similar to Maduro, who is being detained in federal prison in New York on narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges, if she doesn’t align with U.S. interests.
“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump said.
The comment marks a stark reversal from Trump’s praise of Rodriguez in a press conference Saturday following the attack. The president said U.S. officials had spoken with Rodriguez, and reported that “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
Throughout Saturday’s press conference, Trump said that U.S. officials would “run” Venezuela until a democratic transition of power can be achieved. The president declined to offer a timeline on when that may occur.
Shortly after Trump’s press conference, Rodriguez — a hand-picked Maduro ally — insisted that Maduro remains at the head of Venezuela’s government despite his capture, called the U.S. intervention into the country “an atrocity that violates international law,” and said Venezuela is “ready to defend our natural resources.”
Trump left the door open Saturday to U.S. troops reentering Venezuela if needed, and told The Atlantic on Sunday he views rebuilding the country as “not a bad thing in Venezuela’s case.”
In contrast, Secretary of State Marco Rubio downplayed Rodriguez’s fiery comments, saying the administration’s next steps in Venezuela depend on how Rodriguez reacts to what the U.S. wants from Venezuela.
“We’re not going to judge moving forward based simply on what’s said in press conferences. We want to see action here at the end of the day,” Rubio told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “There’s a lot of different reasons why people go on TV and say certain things in these countries, especially 15 hours or 12 hours after the person who used to be in charge of the regime is now in handcuffs and on his way to New York.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a Trump ally who has advocated for military interventions abroad in the past, branded Rodriguez as an illegitimate ruler and called for a U.S.-backed rebuild of the Venezuelan government.
“We don't recognize Delcy Rodriguez as the legitimate ruler of Venezuela,” Cotton told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “They have control of the military and security services. We have to deal with that fact, but that does not make them a legitimate leader.”
“What we want is a future Venezuelan government that will be pro-American, that will contribute to stability, order and prosperity, not only in Venezuela, but in our own backyard,” he added.
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