Venezuelan interim President urges Washington to work with Caracas
Rodriguez, who served as vice president since 2018, assumed the interim presidency after Maduro was seized by US forces in Caracas and transported to New York to face charges of orchestrating a “narco-terrorism conspiracy.”
“President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war,” Rodriguez wrote on Telegram on Monday. “This has always been President Nicolas Maduro’s message, and it is the message of all of Venezuela right now.” She also emphasized the need for a “balanced and respectful” relationship with the United States, calling on the White House to collaborate with Caracas on “an agenda for cooperation aimed at shared development.” Rodriguez reaffirmed Venezuela’s rights “to peace, to development, to sovereignty and to a future.”
Earlier, Rodriguez demanded Maduro’s immediate release while asserting that Venezuela would “never return to being the colony of another empire” or “return to being slaves.”
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump warned Rodriguez she could face an even “bigger price” than her recently captured predecessor if she failed to comply with US expectations.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were apprehended during a US operation on Saturday that involved airstrikes in Caracas and several other states. Washington announced on Sunday that the couple had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses. Maduro has repeatedly denied any involvement in drug trafficking, arguing that the allegations serve as a pretext for regime change.
The latest US action comes amid decades of tense relations between Washington and Caracas, marked by diplomatic disputes, unilateral sanctions, political confrontations, and mutual accusations, with the US refusing to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
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