Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, has called for dialogue and cooperation with the United States following the U.S. military capture of President Nicolás Maduro, as protests erupted in several countries condemning Washington’s actions.
Rodríguez made the appeal on Monday (5 January), urging a move towards "balanced and respectful international relations" and saying Venezuela "aspires to live without external threats".
Her remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of further military action.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday (4 January), President Trump said, “If they don’t behave, we will do a second strike,” adding that any further steps would depend on the actions of Rodríguez’s administration.
In a statement posted on social media, Rodríguez invited Washington to cooperate on an agenda focused on "shared development" within the framework of international law.
"President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war," she said, adding that Venezuela had a right to peace, sovereignty and development.
The statement marked the first softening of rhetoric from Caracas since Maduro’s detention, after officials initially condemned the raid as illegal and motivated by U.S. interest in Venezuela’s oil resources.
Rodríguez, who also serves as oil minister and has assumed interim leadership with the backing of Venezuela’s top court, has long been viewed as the most pragmatic figure in Maduro’s inner circle.
Despite her overtures, she said Maduro remained Venezuela’s president, even as he was transferred to a federal detention centre in New York ahead of a court appearance on Monday.
Trump’s oil strategy
President Trump said he wanted Venezuela to open its oil sector fully to U.S. and private companies, granting “total access” to infrastructure including oil fields, roads and bridges.
He noted U.S. firms would invest billions of dollars to rebuild the industry, declaring, “We’re taking back what they stole. We’re in charge.”
The president acknowledged that the operation was driven not only by criminal charges but also by migration pressures and Venezuela’s historic nationalisation of U.S. oil interests.
Trump warned that Rodríguez herself could face consequences if she fails to cooperate, saying she could face a fate “probably worse than Maduro”.
U.S. officials believe her technocratic background and ties to the oil sector could make her a viable interlocutor on energy and political transition issues, despite her public defiance.
According to sources familiar with U.S. strategy, the Trump administration is betting it can intimidate or co-opt remaining members of Venezuela’s leadership through the threat of further military action, continued air and naval deployments off the country’s coast.
Reportedly, the “quarantine” on Venezuelan oil exports, the government’s primary source of revenue, was also part of the strategy.
Public response
Inside Venezuela, public reaction has been sharply divided.
Some residents expressed relief or hope, seeing Maduro’s removal as a potential break from years of economic collapse, shortages and repression.
Others described fear and confusion, recalling past crises of scarcity and worrying about possible further violence or power struggles among armed groups and security forces.
Protests have also taken place abroad, both supporting and opposing the U.S. intervention.
In South Korea, civic groups staged a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, condemning Washington’s actions and calling for Maduro’s release.
Across the United States, left-wing and socialist groups organised demonstrations against what they described as U.S. "imperialism", while members of the Venezuelan diaspora in areas such as Doral, Florida, gathered to celebrate Maduro’s capture.
Demonstrations have also taken place near the White House in Washington, D.C., and in cities including Brasília and Havana, where crowds condemned what they described as U.S. military aggression against Venezuela.
Spanish football club Real Madrid has appointed José Mourinho as its new manager. The 63-year-old nicknamed “the special one” returns to the hel...
Pakistan says it has killed 26 militants in strikes on terrorist hideouts along the Afghan border, marking the most significant escalation between the...
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner has found that xAI’s Grok chatbot and its parent company X Corp. violated federal privacy law by launching an AI ima...
China's foreign ministry announced on Thursday that it had imposed sanctions on Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and his immediate family...
Conditions of a climate pattern El Niño have officially developed and are expected to strengthen through the Northern Hemisphere winter of 2026-27,...
U.S. passenger air services to Venezuela resumed on Thursday (30 April), as an American Airlines flight landed in Caracas, restoring a commercial link between the two countries after seven years.
A United States Army soldier has been charged with making more than $400,000 by betting on the removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, according to the Department of Justice.
Three months following the U.S. raid that captured socialist President Nicolas Maduro on 3 January, the Venezuelan National Assembly approved a new law on Thursday loosening the state’s grip on mining investments to open the sector for private and foreign companies.
In a major policy reversal, the U.S. Treasury has removed Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, from its sanctions list, signalling a sharp shift in Washington’s approach to Caracas.
Mexico and South Africa meet in Thursday’s World Cup opener in Mexico City, with both teams approaching the match from very different positions but facing their own pressures.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry says 19 citizens have been repatriated following a deadly drone attack on two cargo ships in the Sea of Azov on 5 June.
The Pakistani city of Karachi is struggling under severe heat and humidity as the country enters a prolonged heatwave period. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has warned of above-normal temperatures across much of the country between 7 and 12 June.
Ukraine's military said it struck a Russian "shadow fleet" tanker in the Black Sea as part of ongoing efforts to disrupt Moscow's energy and logistics networks. The move underscores Kyiv's focus on targeting maritime assets it says are used to bypass sanctions on Russian oil exports.
U.S. forces say they have completed strikes on Iranian military sites near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with missile attacks on an American base in Jordan, marking a sharp escalation in tensions between the two sides.
More than a third of Belgium’s population now has a foreign background, according to new figures released by the national statistics office, Statbel. The data show that around 4.34 million of the country’s nearly 11.7 million residents do not have an entirely Belgian background.
Fuel stations across the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula ran dry on Thursday as Ukraine stepped up attacks on supply routes to the region.
Spanish football club Real Madrid has appointed José Mourinho as its new manager. The 63-year-old nicknamed “the special one” returns to the helm of Spain’s most successful football club, more than a decade since his last stint as the team's manager.
Pakistan says it has killed 26 militants in strikes on terrorist hideouts along the Afghan border, marking the most significant escalation between the neighbouring countries since a China-brokered diplomatic effort helped ease tensions earlier this year.
Canada’s Privacy Commissioner has found that xAI’s Grok chatbot and its parent company X Corp. violated federal privacy law by launching an AI image-generation tool without adequate safeguards, enabling the creation and distribution of non-consensual sexualised deepfakes.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment