US making preparations in case Trump decides to reopen embassy in Caracas, official says

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) – The United States is undergoing preparations in case President Donald Trump decides to reopen the U.S. embassy in Venezuela’s capital Caracas, a senior State Department official said on Monday.

“As President Trump said, we are making preparations to allow for a reopening should the President make that decision,” the official told Reuters.

Trump on Sunday said that the U.S. was thinking about reopening the embassy in Caracas.

Bloomberg first reported that the Trump administration is taking early steps to allow for the reopening of the American embassy in Venezuela.

The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a raid early on Saturday and whisked him to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.

Trump has asserted that the U.S. will run Venezuela until such time as a “safe, proper and judicious transition” can be made, and he has made no secret of wanting to share in Venezuela’s oil riches.

But it was unclear how the U.S. intends to run the country. The U.S. president’s vow on Saturday to “run” post-Maduro Venezuela appears for now to be more an aspiration to exert outside control – or at least heavy influence – over the OPEC nation without deploying U.S. ground forces, which would have little public support at home.

But Trump said on Sunday that more military intervention was on the table. “If they don’t behave, we will do a second strike,” he said.

American oil companies will return to Venezuela and rebuild the sector’s infrastructure, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.

The U.S. in 2019 withdrew all diplomatic personnel from Venezuela, citing the deteriorating situation in the country after months of political unrest.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra PamukWriting by Bhargav AcharyaEditing by Susan Heavey and Peter Graff)