The issues surrounding Venezuela after the US military intervention over the weekend, which detained the country's President Nicolas Maduro, continue to be a leading topic in the Western press this morning.
"What happened last week in Caracas was not an invasion, but a coup - the military abduction of a head of state in order to bring to power a more acceptable deputy," writes the British newspaper "The Guardian". According to the publication, since April last year, Vice President, and now interim President, Delcy Rodriguez, together with her brother Jorge - President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, held secret negotiations with Washington.
"What happened is undoubtedly a gross violation of international law. But the United States has rarely complied with it", the Guardian points out. The operation in Caracas is also unconstitutional, since only Congress has the authority to declare war, but this is formally circumvented by claiming that it is simply "law enforcement", the publication comments.
"Venezuelan politics is a "blood sport". The US enters the ring", the American newspaper "Washington Post" wrote in a headline.
After the capture and arrest of Maduro on Saturday, public attention has focused on Delcy Rodriguez and the question of whether she will agree to the White House's demands to open up Venezuela's vast resources to American industry, the publication writes. Delcy Rodriguez and her brother are just the political dimension of power.
"The Washington Post" cites researchers who say that the other centers of influence in the country are controlled by Vladimir Padrino and Diosdado Cabello - – – "old-school hardliners Chavistas who have amassed considerable power and wealth through longstanding loyalty to the cause." Both wield far more power than their official positions suggest, analysts told the newspaper.
They express concern that Washington does not fully understand the factional, internally fragmented political system it is now trying to navigate - a maze of overlapping loyalties, family ties and competing interests. Some have called Cabello the unpredictable, the Washington Post added.
"Cabello is a brutal, repressive figure in the regime, but he is not stupid", said Jeff Ramsey of the Atlantic Council. "He knows that his survival depends on threatening to burn the country if his interests are not protected", he told the American publication.
After the briefing on the US military operation, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that "the goal of the campaign was "to bring justice to a criminal" who has been "charged under American law".
"That is what it is about", he told reporters gathered outside the chamber. While he was speaking, Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar gave a different explanation, another American newspaper commented – "New York Times".
"It's about oil", she said.
It clearly showed the bipartisan divide over the action that led to Maduro's overthrow, as well as a deeper sense of confusion and anxiety in Congress about what the Trump administration's next plans are, the publication added.
The newspaper noted that after the briefings, Republicans largely welcomed the military operation and supported the administration's approach, while Democrats warned that the United States was "sliding toward an intervention with an unclear end, without a clear legal basis and without a plan for when and how a democratic transition could take place."
At the same time, the "Wall Street Journal" notes that yesterday the US military seized two sanctioned oil tankers on the high seas.
This came after Trump announced that the US would sell sanctioned Venezuelan oil. This oil move may make sense, but only if it serves the more important goal of creating a free and prosperous Venezuela, the publication writes.
According to the newspaper, the removal of Nicolas Maduro was an act of "cleansing the Western Hemisphere." However, Trump's constant statements about monetizing Venezuelan oil are fueling the thesis of critics who claim that it all comes down to oil, commented "The Wall Street Journal".
In recent days, the president has even hinted at subsidizing American oil companies to return to Venezuela - as if it were an imperial American outpost from a century ago, the newspaper writes. He adds that the sale of sanctioned oil could have a positive effect if the proceeds were given to the opposition or deposited in an escrow account (to guarantee that the money is transferred only after all commitments are fulfilled) to rebuild the Venezuelan economy when and if the regime relinquishes power.
Trump clearly views these revenues as a personal fund, outside the control of Congress over public finances, which he can distribute at his own discretion. This mixes US national security interests with Trump's personal power, the publication writes.
According to the "Wall Street Journal" Venezuela relies on aid from Iran and China to prevent the collapse of its aging oil infrastructure. American investment is preferable, but easing sanctions to allow American companies to operate in Venezuela does not automatically mean pushing out opponents who have their own strategic reasons for supporting the regime, the newspaper explains.
"The Wall Street Journal" predicts that American companies are unlikely to invest in Venezuela until a possible political transition creates stability and guarantees property protection.
At the same time, the British newspaper "Financial Times" commented that US oil companies will want strong guarantees from Washington before making large-scale investments in Venezuela.
The company executives are expected to insist on strong legal and financial guarantees before committing capital to a country with high political and legal risks, sources told the publication.
The newspaper recalls that earlier this week Trump said that US oil companies could be "recovered through us or through the proceeds" if they invest in Venezuela. But companies remain cautious, with some of them pointing to the unpredictability of politics.
"Nobody wants to go there, given that an accidental post on social media could change the whole foreign policy of the country," he told the "Financial Times" investor in energy projects.
"After Iran and Nigeria, Venezuela is the third OPEC oil producer to be targeted by the US in the past year," said Bill Farren-Price of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. "This is a global program that will gradually reshape global energy trade on US terms," he said.
However, Trump's plan to revive Venezuela's oil sector is already facing skepticism among US executives, who cite political and legal risks, combined with low oil prices, as major obstacles, the newspaper noted.