The United States military operation in Venezuela, in which President Nicolas Maduro was detained on Saturday and taken to New York to be tried on a number of charges, including drug trafficking, has been a leading international topic for days for the world's media. Gradually, however, the spectacular footage is giving way to the key questions of what Donald Trump's goals are and what lies ahead in the longer term, BTA reported.
The US president himself hinted in an interview with the "New York Times" that his country could continue to control Venezuela for years.
"Only time will tell" how long we will stay there, Trump said. In response to a question from the American daily whether this would last three months, six months, a year or longer, he replied: "I would say much longer."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave more details, explaining yesterday, quoted by Reuters, that his country has a plan for the future of Venezuela, which envisages three stages: stabilization, reconstruction and transition.
"We do not want to end up in chaos," Rubio said after informing the US Senate of the plan of the administration of President Donald Trump for the Latin American country.
The first stage envisages stabilization of the country. The second phase - of reconstruction, "will ensure that American, Western and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market in a fair manner. At the same time, we will begin to create a national reconciliation process in Venezuela so that opposition forces can be amnestied and released from prison or returned to the country, and we can begin to rebuild civil society. And then the third phase, of course, will be a transition phase," Rubio summed up.
The United States will sell Venezuelan oil on world markets without a specific time limit, after it finishes selling the quantities currently stored in Venezuela, said US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, quoted by DPA.
He said this at a time when all attention is focused on what will happen to the oil of the South American country, which ranks first in the world in proven reserves of "black gold".
"We will put crude oil from Venezuela on the market - first the one that is stored, and then we will sell the oil produced by Venezuela on the market indefinitely," Wright explained during an energy conference.
According to him, Washington is working closely with the authorities in Caracas on this issue. Deliveries of solvents used in the oil refining process, as well as spare parts for the facilities, are also planned.
The long-term goal is for major US energy companies to be able to fully engage in operations in Venezuela again, the US Secretary of Energy explained.
"The resources are enormous. (Venezuela) should be a rich, prosperous and peaceful energy power. That's the plan," the US Secretary of Energy said.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt meanwhile announced that the United States is selectively lifting sanctions against Venezuela so that its oil can be sold.
"We're going to rebuild it in a very profitable way," Trump told the "New York Times". "We're going to use the oil and we're going to take the oil. We will lower oil prices and give Venezuela the money it desperately needs," he added.
Despite initial expectations that the US would now work with the Venezuelan opposition, Trump significantly stated that his administration "gets along very well" with the government of interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez.
Is this due to the US president's personal dislike for Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whom he could not forgive for being awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize instead of him, as he wanted? Probably not, despite Trump's characteristic style, characterized by sharp and unambiguous statements.
The BBC is trying to find an answer to the question of why the Trump administration's attention was drawn to Delcy Rodriguez - the daughter of a former guerrilla and deputy to authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro. At first glance, it seems odd that he would choose a revolutionary who espouses the ideology of the late Venezuelan socialist President Hugo Chavez over the oppositionist Machado, whose movement many believe will win the country's 2024 presidential election.
According to a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, the answer is simple. "They chose stability over democracy," summed up Charles Shapiro, who headed the U.S. embassy in Caracas under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2004.
"They maintained the dictatorial regime without the dictator. "His supporters are still there," Shapiro said, adding: "I think it's incredibly risky."
The alternative, involving a complete regime change and support for Machado's opposition movement, would however lead to other dangers, including potential infighting among opposition figures and hostility from those Venezuelans, perhaps up to 30%, who voted for Maduro, the BBC commented.
"Washington must be careful about regime change," warned the International Crisis Group in a report published in October.
The US NGO argued that "the risks of violence in any post-Maduro scenario should not be underestimated," stressing that it would be possible for elements of the security forces to launch a guerrilla war against the new authorities.
Wall Street Journal Journal reported on Monday a classified U.S. intelligence assessment that Maduro's regime officials, including Rodriguez, are better positioned to lead an interim government than the opposition. The White House has not commented publicly on the report but has made clear it plans to work with Rodriguez for the foreseeable future.
The goal, it seems, is to avoid chaos and violence.
The challenges in Venezuela are just beginning, said Henry Zimmer, an associate fellow in the Americas Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"Capturing Maduro was the easy part. Rebuilding Venezuela as a whole, the goals around oil, drugs and democracy... will take much longer to achieve," Zimmer said.