Jan 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he had canceled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela following cooperation from the South American nation.
The president said on Friday that Venezuela was releasing a large number of political prisoners as a sign of “seeking peace”, following last week’s dramatic U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
“This is a very important and smart gesture. The U.S.A. and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“Because of this cooperation, I have canceled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purpose,” his post added.
Trump’s comments come hours after he indicated in an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” program that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was coming to Washington next week, after previously dismissing the idea of working with her, saying that “she doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country”.
The Republican president, however, had told the New York Times on Wednesday that the U.S. was “getting along very well” with the Venezuelan government, led by acting interim president Delcy Rodriguez.
During the Fox interview, Trump also said he would meet oil executives at the White House on Friday and that the oil companies would spend at least $100 billion in Venezuela, which he repeated in his Truth Social post.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; editing by Philippa Fletcher, Mark Heinrich and Alex Richardson)
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