Venezuelan interim leader tones down criticism, ready to 'work with the US'
Source: Al Jazeera
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has said she is willing to cooperate with the United States on the future of Venezuela, in a significant shift in tone from the immediate aftermath of a military operation leading to the abduction of leader Nicolas Maduro by US special forces.
“We consider it a priority to move towards a balanced and respectful relationship between the US and Venezuela,” Rodriguez wrote on Telegram on Sunday”
“We extend an invitation to the US government to work together on an agenda for cooperation that is aimed towards shared development,” she continued.
Rodriguez, who served as Maduro’s deputy since 2018, was made interim leader by Venezuela’s Supreme Court on Saturday after Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were detained in the most high-profile and riskiest US military operation since the US Navy’s SEAL team killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a safe house in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in 2011.
In a televised address on Saturday, Rodriguez denounced the US actions as “an atrocity that violates international law”, insisting that “the only president of Venezuela [is] President Nicolas Maduro.”
Rodriguez’s televised remarks created a rift with Trump, who had suggested in the immediate aftermath of Maduro’s capture that US officials were in communication with her, and she was willing to cooperate.
After Rodriguez called his administration a group of “extremists” on television, Trump quickly shifted his tone from calling Rodriguez “gracious” to threatening her directly.
Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/1/5/venezuelan-interim-leader-tones-down-criticism-ready-to-work-with-the-us
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