Hello there and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service.
We're coming to you live from London this Tuesday.
I'm Sean Lay.
Just 18 months ago there was an election in Venezuela,
but the situation after this weekend looks dramatically different.
Why has Donald Trump's administration ideologically opposed to Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro when they govern Venezuela?
They are apparently thrown in its lot with a successor who shares their philosophy.
Mike Johnson, Speaker of the US House of Representatives and a Trump loyalist,
offered this explanation,
which captures the ambiguity of the new relationship between Venezuela and the United States.
I want to say that the way that this is being described, I think, is accurate.
This is not a regime change.
This is a demand for change in behavior by a regime.
The interim government is stood up now,
and we are hopeful that they will be able to correct their action.
They cannot participate with narco-terrorists and very dangerous international criminal organizations that harm and target Americans,
frankly,
and traffic all of these dangerous drugs into our country that do all this great harm to our country.
They cannot continue that activity.
Well, that was Mike Johnson, US Speaker.