(NewsNation) — Some 15,000 servicemembers remain in the Caribbean following the United States’ strikes on Venezuela Saturday.
As questions circulate about the extent of U.S. military involvement in the region, President Donald Trump has an answer: “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.” He vowed that the U.S. would “run” the South American country while its president faces criminal charges in a New York court.
It’s unclear whether soldiers will deploy on the ground, but one expert said he expects it’s possible.
“I would anticipate that we would indeed put U.S. military forces on the ground there,” said retired Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, a NewsNation national security contributor, on “Morning in America with Hena Doba.“
Newton, with a 34-year military career, called Saturday’s operation a “stunning success from a tactical standpoint.” But it was a one-time, get-in-and-out mission, not a military operation, to arrest President Nicolás Maduro. So, what would U.S. military involvement look like in Venezuela?
“After such a high-end tactical success, you’ve got to make sure that governance is restored. You have to make sure that you create conditions… for our free market economy in Venezuela,” Newton said. “And then President Trump really underscored the importance of reinvigorating and retooling the oil industry as a benefit, not only to the Venezuelan people, but also to U.S. businesses there as well. So that’s a lot to take on.”
Trump has said Maduro’s capture was to target drug smuggling and not regime change, but speculation is growing around whether regime change was the end goal after all. And that takes time.
“We’re not talking weeks or months,” Newton said. “I think we’re talking at least a year moving forward in Venezuela.”
