Acting Venezuelan President Rodríguez Calls for Cooperation with U.S. After Trump Warns of Further Military Action
Delcy Rodríguez offers conciliatory tone as Maduro prepares for U.S. court appearance and Trump warns of additional military action.
- Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez urged the U.S. to collaborate with Venezuela
- President Donald Trump warned of further military action if Venezuela does not cooperate in opening its oil industry
- Rodríguez’s statement comes ahead of Nicolás Maduro’s scheduled U.S. court appearance
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, on Sunday extended an offer to collaborate with the United States on an agenda focused on shared development, striking a conciliatory tone for the first time since U.S. forces captured President Nicolás Maduro.
In a statement posted on social media, Rodríguez emphasized her government’s desire for respectful relations with the U.S., a sharp shift from her earlier criticism of the raid, which she described as an illegal seizure of Venezuela’s national resources.
“We invite the U.S. government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence,” Rodríguez said. “President Donald Trump, our peoples, and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”
Rodríguez, who also serves as oil minister and is considered the most pragmatic member of Maduro’s inner circle, has previously signaled willingness to work with the U.S. Publicly, however, she and other officials had condemned the detention of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, calling it a kidnapping while affirming Maduro remains Venezuela’s legitimate leader.
On Sunday, President Donald Trump warned that he could order another strike if Venezuela fails to cooperate with U.S. efforts to reopen its oil industry and curb drug trafficking.
He also threatened possible military action in Colombia and Mexico, claiming Cuba’s communist regime “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own.
Rodríguez’s statement came on the eve of Maduro’s scheduled court appearance in New York on Monday. U.S. officials have described his seizure as a law-enforcement action related to 2020 criminal charges accusing Maduro of narco-terrorism conspiracy, though Trump has indicated other motivations, including immigration concerns and Venezuela’s past nationalization of U.S. oil interests.
“We’re taking back what they stole,” Trump said aboard Air Force One. “We’re in charge.” He also predicted that American oil companies would return to Venezuela, invest billions of dollars, and rebuild the country’s petroleum industry.
