JAKARTA - President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Venezuelan interim leader Delcy Rodriguez that she would pay a "heavy price" if she did not cooperate with the United States, after US forces arrested and imprisoned President Nicolas Maduro.
The United States on Saturday launched an attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, followed by the arrest of President Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
The New York Times quoted Venezuelan officials who spoke anonymously as saying at least 40 people were killed in the US attack, including civilians and soldiers.
"If he doesn't do the right thing, he will pay a very, very expensive price, maybe more expensive than Maduro," President Trump told The Atlantic in a brief telephone interview, as reported by Al Arabiya from AFP (5/1).
The Venezuelan military on Sunday recognized Rodriguez as the country's interim leader, after US forces brought President Maduro to trial.
President Maduro is accused of smuggling cocaine into the US and a number of other crimes, in an indictment launched by federal prosecutors in the Southern District, New York.
Amid the uncertainty following the dramatic arrest of the leftist president, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez appeared to give his support to Rodriguez, who had previously been indicated by President Trump as a figure Washington could work with.
Defense Minister Padrino read a statement on television supporting the Supreme Court's ruling naming Rodriguez as interim president for 90 days.
He also called on Venezuelans to return to their daily lives, speaking less than two days after the US attack shook the capital Caracas and special forces arrested Maduro and his wife.
Defense Minister Padrino denounced it as a "cowardly kidnapping" and said several of Maduro's bodyguards were killed "brutally," in addition to the deaths of military personnel and civilians on the Venezuelan side.
Venezuelan authorities have not given an official number of injured or dead in the US operation.
"I call on the Venezuelan people to continue their activities in all forms, economic, employment, and education, in the coming days," said Defense Minister Padrino.
"The country must follow its constitutional path," he said.
Rodriguez, who was originally the Vice President of Venezuela as well as the Minister of Petroleum, took over the leadership with the blessing of the highest court. However, he emphasized that Maduro remained the President of Venezuela.
Because of his ties to the private sector and his deep knowledge of oil, the country's main source of revenue, Rodriguez has long been considered the most pragmatic member of Maduro's inner circle.
However, he publicly denied Trump's claim that he was willing to cooperate with the Uncle Sam State.
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