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  • 2 months ago
The US has captured Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and is set to put him on trial. But what's next for Venezuela is uncertain as Venezuelans themselves have sharply contrasting views on their future, with the US not ruling out the use of more force against the country.

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00:00Moto taxi driver Jonathan Mayora surveys the ruins of his home near the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
00:08The U.S. hit the area as part of an operation to capture President Nicolas Maduro over the weekend.
00:14The target was a naval academy nearby.
00:17But the attack killed civilians and wrecked homes, too.
00:20People here wonder, why them?
00:23Now I'm hoping for a quick response from the government to help my family, my children,
00:28because they very nearly killed my kids here, you know.
00:30My kids were almost killed.
00:32Up there, there were families, too.
00:34Two elderly women died because of these acts that never should have happened.
00:37Because we aren't to blame for what happens in the world.
00:40They have their problems and we have ours.
00:42Now look at all this chaos.
00:44I don't agree with this, gentlemen.
00:46But while those impacted by the strikes face the most uncertainty,
00:50the whole country is unsure what comes next.
00:53Maduro will soon appear in this New York courthouse to face charges including narco-trafficking.
01:00His nearly 13 years in office, marred by accusations of election fraud, look to be finished.
01:06But he's just one part of a populist left-wing political movement that's run Venezuela since 1999
01:13and put the country at odds with the U.S.
01:16Will his removal be enough to bring a change of course?
01:19Washington expects it will.
01:22U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken of running Venezuela
01:25and restoring the country's oil infrastructure.
01:28And Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that while it's too early to expect elections,
01:33the U.S. is using a military quarantine of oil exports to push for yielding to America's expectations.
01:39That will continue to be in place until the people who have control over the levers of power in that country
01:45make changes that are not just in the interest of the people of Venezuela,
01:48but are in the interest of the United States and the things that we care about.
01:52But Venezuelans themselves are deeply split about what should come next.
02:00On the one hand are the exiles.
02:03Around a fifth of Venezuela's population has left the country during Maduro's time in power,
02:07pushed by economic and human rights woes.
02:10Amid celebrations, some say they back a transition to a new government under the watch of the Trump administration.
02:17This is what has to happen. Why? Because government entities are still not clean.
02:24The defense minister still hasn't left, still hasn't handed over power.
02:29So we can't let our political leaders take over the government until they leave.
02:33It will be a risk to leave them and put our leaders in.
02:38But in Venezuela itself, Maduro's deputies are still in charge.
02:43And a protest demanding his release shows his government still has support.
02:48We don't want them to impose a Yankee government on us.
02:52We are free and sovereign.
02:54We are a people with guarantees in the Bolivarian Constitution.
02:58We are a free people, free and sovereign.
03:01Donald Trump is not going to take our oil.
03:03Rubio is not going to govern us.
03:05We have a president and a vice president who will assume for now.
03:09But our president is Nicolas Maduro.
03:12Trump says the focus now is on, quote, fixing up Venezuela, with elections to follow at some later date.
03:18He told reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela.
03:23And in this exchange had this warning for the country's interim leadership.
03:27I guess I don't know those U.S. troops.
03:29I mean, one thing that Americans and a lot of people are wondering.
03:32You just sounded like you weighed out another strike, another land strike at least in Venezuela.
03:36You sound like you weighed that out.
03:38We didn't need it.
03:40We were prepared to do a second strike if we needed it.
03:43We're totally prepared.
03:44But that's off the table.
03:45We're still prepared.
03:46That's off the table now.
03:47If they don't behave, we will do a second strike.
03:50With Venezuelans divided and the U.S. saying it will call the shots from here on out,
03:55a contest for Venezuela's future is underway.
03:58Justin Wu and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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