Trump says he scrapped new Venezuela attack after prisoner release

AFP | Washington

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US President Donald Trump said yesterday he called off a second wave of attacks on Venezuela after the government, whose leftist president was removed by Washington, began releasing prisoners.

Trump made the comments as he prepared to meet major oil corporations that he said will invest at least $100 billion in Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves.

Trump was implicitly making clear he is ready again to use force to get his way in Venezuela, which he has vowed to force to enrich the United States, especially oil companies.

“Venezuela is releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of ‘Seeking Peace,’” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks,” he said.

The United States yesterday also announced that it had seized another tanker near Venezuela as it enforces an embargo on its oil, which makes Washington the undisputed power on its key export.

Prisoners’ release

Venezuela began releasing prisoners on Thursday in the first such gesture since US forces removed and detained president Nicolas Maduro in a deadly January 3 raid, with his deputy Delcy Rodriguez taking over.

Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Enrique Marquez -- who opposed Maduro in the contested 2024 presidential election -- was among those released Thursday.

“It’s all over now,” Marquez said in a video taken by a local journalist of him and his wife, accompanied by another released opposition member, Biagio Pilieri.

The White House quickly took credit for winning the prisoners’ freedom.

Trump had earlier played down democracy as a motivating factor for the attack, despite years of the United States saying that Maduro was illegitimate elections were filled with fraud.

But Trump said he would meet next week with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whom he earlier brushed aside as a “very nice woman” who lacked the “respect” to lead Venezuela.

“I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview.