U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday that the U.S. military operation that led to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro bears no resemblance to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Asked whether Saturday's military action against Maduro's authoritarian government differed from the Iraq intervention, which overthrew the dictator Saddam Hussein, Hegseth told CBS News: "It's the exact opposite."
"We spent decades and decades and purchased in blood, and got nothing economically in return, and President Trump flips the script," Hegseth said.
Now Washington can help both the people of Venezuela and the U.S. following the "most complicated, most successful joint special operations raid of all time," he told the broadcaster.
"Venezuela has a long history of being a rich and prosperous country," Hegseth said, adding that, "it's been stolen away from its people by horrific leadership."
He also indicated that an overhaul of Venezuela's inefficient oil sector was coming: "These oil depots have been operating at 20% capacity. That's going to change," he said.
The U.S. will "run" Venezuela until a "safe, proper and judicious transition" can be ensured, President Donald Trump said on Saturday, while adding that the country's vast oil reserves would be exploited.
"We're going to have our very large United States oil companies - the biggest anywhere in the world - go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country," the president said.
According to U.S. officials, elite military units captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during an overnight operation that included large-scale airstrikes and then transferred them out of the country via the USS Iwo Jima assault ship.
Maduro is now being held in a New York City detention facility, where he is expected to stand trial on charges including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
