(The Center Square) - President Donald Trump touted his relationship with South American political leaders on Wednesday but said it was too soon to hold elections in Venezuela.
In June, Trump offered his "complete and total endorsement" of Abelardo De le Espriella ahead of Columbia's runoff presidential election. De le Espriella, seen as a more conservative candidate, slid to victory on an agenda that centered on cartel crackdowns and repairing the U.S.-Colombian relationship.
De le Espriella overcame a challenge from Ivan Cepeda, a member of former president Gustavo Petro's socialist party.
"He's now the president of Colombia," Trump said. "He wasn't expected to win. He was one of 10 people running. He wasn't the favorite person and he turned out."
The Center Square asked Trump whether he would consider expanding the United States' military presence in South America or build military bases in the region. Trump touted his relationship with Colombia and Argentina in response.
Trump also offered a "complete and total endorsement" to Argentina President Javier Milei and praised leadership in Brazil as the country barrels toward a tense October election. Trump has previously backed Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for allegedly attempting a coup over the 2022 election results.
Jair Bolsonaro cannot run in the October elections but his eldest son, Flavio, is set to take on incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva among several other candiates in October.
"That part of our hemisphere is really turning out to be very much different than it was," Trump said. "They've gone from being left to going right. They're all going right."
While supporting electoral victories elsewhere, Trump declined to announce a timeline for elections in Venezuela, following the United States' capture of former President Nicholas Maduro in January. He said the Venezuelan people are "not ready yet" to hold an election and pointed to interim president Delcy Rodriguez as a "highly respected" leader.
"We've taken them out from a very powerful, ruthless dictatorship where many people were in jail," Trump said. "Those people have largely been released from jail, they were political prisoners."
The Trump administration announced a new deal last week to develop 17 oil fields in Venezuela to secure control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in the country. The government partnered with private oil company North American Blue Energy Partners to secure the deal.
"Millions of barrels of new Venezuelan output will be processed through U.S. refineries and pumped with American rigs and infrastructure, supporting billions in investment in the United States and thousands of jobs here at home," the White House said.
Trump called for more time before elections are held in the country and for the Venezuelan people to recover from the previous leadership.
"You had a very powerful, very nasty dictatorship in Venezuela, and they're just not going to be ready for it yet," Trump said. "But soon, we look forward to doing it, and soon."
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