Delcy Rodriguez has been named as the interim leader of Venezuela, she has hit out at Donald Trump accusing the US of “kidnapping” President Nicolas Maduro.
The US President warned Rodriguez that if she does not cooperate with Washington “she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”
She has rejected Washington’s demands to cooperate and fumed that what the US has done to “Venezuela is an atrocity.”
Caracas has said that the Venezuelan police must find and arrest those responsible for helping the US capture President Maduro, which comes as American media reported over the weekend that a CIA source within the Venezuelan government was watching Maduro in the lead up to the military operation. Caracas has issued a state of emergency on Saturday after what they are calling the “kidnapping” of their President.
On Saturday, 3 January 2026 President Maduro and his wife Cilla Flores were captured in Caracas during an overnight raid by US special forces, they were then shackled and flown to America.
The Venezuelan leader has been called a dictator and accused to drug and terrorism charges at the Southern District of New York in 2020.
The US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Sunday that Flores and Maduro could be charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy along with other charges.
The interim Venezuelan leader said that she hopes to build “respectful relations” with President Trump, she has also invited the US 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”.
However, she then issued a statement calling Maduro’s capture as a “temporary absence” then accused the US of “kidnapping” President Maduro which is an act of illegal aggression.
Taking aim firmly at Trump Rodriguez said, “What is being done to Venezuela is an atrocity that violates international law… history and justice will make the extremists who promoted this armed aggression pay.”
Trump has insisted that he wants “total access” to Venezuela for their oil and infrastructure, which has echoes of Vladimir Putin with his demands in Ukraine.
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