The United States has captured the President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, after launching airstrikes on the socialist South American country. President Donald Trump has announced that the US will take control of the oil-rich country. However, members of Maduro's government, who are still in Caracas, the country's capital, have vowed to stay united behind their president.
This is the most controversial US attack on a Latin American country in 37 years since the invasion of Panama.
Here are answers to top questions on the US-Venezuela situation:
Who will run Venezuela now?
Trump has firmly said that the US will take control of the South American nation. His Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has also backed the idea, saying that "the president always retains optionality on anything and on all of these matters," as per a CBS News report.
"He certainly has the ability and the right under the Constitution of the United States to act against imminent and urgent threats against the country," the outlet quoted Rubio as saying to Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
However, the situation on ground is different. At least for now. Top-ranking officials in Maduro's government are still in charge on the ground, Reuters reported.
"Here, the unity of the revolutionary force is more than guaranteed, and here there is only one president, whose name is Nicolas Maduro Moros. Let no one fall for the enemy’s provocations," the news agency quoted the country's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello as saying in an audio clip shared by PSUV socialist party, the ruling party in Venezuela.
For now, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, also the country's oil minister, has taken over charges as its interim president, with the approval of Venezuela's top court.
Trump has also warned her earlier, saying in an interview with The Atlantic magazine on Sunday that Rodriguez might have to pay even a bigger price than Maduro "if she doesn't do what's right."
This warning came after Rodriguez publicly denied claims made by the US President that she was willing to work with the US.
What next for Venezuela?
Trump has already issued a warning, saying that he is 'not afraid' to have US army "boots on the ground" in the Latin American nation. Rubio, on the other hand, was quoted by CBS News as saying that Trump "does not feel like he is going to publicly, you know, rule out options that are available for the United States, even though that's not what you're seeing right now."
Rubio has made no qualms about hiding the fact that the US strikes on the country have been about oil.
"What you're seeing right now is an oil quarantine that allows us to exert tremendous leverage over what happens next," he also said.
As per Rubio, the 'quarantine' gives the US the right to take control of oil shipments with an order from a court, and that is also offers "a tremendous amount of leverage that will continue to be in place until we see changes that not just further the national interest of the United States, which is number one, but also that lead to a better future for the people of Venezuela," as per CBS News.
Rubio also made the suggestion that the US give the subordinates of the captured Maduro time to govern while Washington DC follows their next steps. “We’re going to judge everything by what they do, and we’re going to see what they do," Rubio said.
Where is Nicolas Maduro now? What has he been charged with?
After the US struck Venezuela on Saturday, 3 January, both Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and taken to New York. Maduro is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn.
As per Trump, both Maduro and his wife have been indicted on alleged "drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies" charges in the Southern District of New York and will be facing trial.
