Monday briefing: Why the US moved to oust Venezuela’s president

In today’s newsletter: Saturday’s capture of Nicolás Maduro by the US was as unexpected as it was swift – but what led Trump to topple the South American regime?Good morning. Over the weekend, the US attacked Venezuela with a series of airstrikes and captured the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, Cilia Flores, seizing them from their bedrooms and flying them to New York on Saturday evening. Donald Trump announced that the US would “run” Venezuela for an unspecified period.Perhaps most striking was how explicit Trump was about the reasoning behind the military action. He said the aim was for US companies to take control of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure for their own benefit. “We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it,” Trump said.Venezuela | The prospect of the United States seizing direct control of Venezuela appeared to recede on Sunday after the shocking seizure of President Nicolás...