FORMER minister in the ministry of finance Mariano Browne says it remains to be seen what leverage the US will use in order to pursue its agenda in Venezuela, after its military forces captured and extracted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores from a fortified compound in Caracas around 2 am on January 3.

Browne made this comment in response to a statement by US President Donald Trump repeating on January 5, that the US intends to run Venezuela for the time being and what that may involve.

In an interview with reporters, Trump said, "We are in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful and where the oil is allowed to freely come out because that's going to get some prices down.He added this would be good for the US.