Venezuela's interim government says it is united behind Maduro after his U.S. capture
A top Venezuelan official declared on Sunday that the country's government would stay unified behind President Nicolas Maduro, whose capture by the United States has sparked deep uncertainty about what is next for the oil-rich South American nation.
Maduro is in a New York detention center awaiting a Monday court appearance on drug charges. U.S. President Donald Trump, who went golfing on Sunday, ordered his seizure from Venezuela on Saturday and said the U.S. would take control of the country.
But in Caracas, top officials in Maduro's government, who have called the detentions of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores a kidnapping, were still in charge.
"Here, the unity of the revolutionary force is more than guaranteed, and here there is only one president, whose name is Nicolas Maduro Moros. Let no one fall for the enemy’s provocations," Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said in an audio recording released by the ruling PSUV socialist party.
Images of the 63-year-old Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed on Saturday stunned Venezuelans. The operation was Washington's most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago.
Without providing specifics, Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino said on state television the U.S. attack killed soldiers, civilians and a "large part" of Maduro's security detail "in cold blood." Venezuela’s armed forces have been activated to guarantee sovereignty, he said.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez — who also serves as oil minister — has taken over as interim leader with the blessing of Venezuela's top court, though she has said Maduro remains president.
Because of her connections with the private sector and deep knowledge of oil, the country's top revenue source, Rodriguez has long been considered the most pragmatic member of Maduro's inner circle. But she has publicly contradicted Trump's claim she is willing to work with the United States.
Trump said Rodriguez may pay a bigger price than Maduro "if she doesn't do what's right," according to an interview with The Atlantic magazine on Sunday.
The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that remark.
'A QUARANTINE ON THEIR OIL'
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Venezuela's next leader should be aligned with U.S. interests. Those include keeping Venezuela's oil industry out of the hands of U.S. adversaries and stopping drug trafficking. He cited an ongoing U.S. blockade on tankers under sanctions as leverage.
"We have a quarantine on their oil," Rubio said on ABC's "This Week."
"That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interest of the Venezuelan people are met."
The Venezuelan government has said for months Trump was seeking to take the country's vast natural resources, especially its oil, and officials made much of his comment on Saturday that major U.S. oil companies would move in.
“We are outraged because in the end everything was revealed — it was revealed that they only want our oil,” added Cabello.
Once one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America, Venezuela's economy tanked in the 2000s under President Hugo Chavez and nosedived further under Maduro, sending about one in five Venezuelans abroad in one of the world's biggest exoduses.
MUTED STREETS
Some Maduro supporters gathered at a government-sponsored protest march on Sunday afternoon in Caracas.
Once ruled by Spain, Venezuela's "people must not surrender, nor should we ever become a colony of anyone again," said demonstrator Reinaldo Mijares. "This country is not a country of the defeated.”
Maduro opponents in Venezuela have been wary of celebrating his seizure, and the presence of security forces seemed, if anything, lighter than usual on Sunday.
Despite a nervous mood, some bakeries and coffee shops were open and joggers and cyclists were out as usual. Some citizens were stocking up on essentials.
“Yesterday I was very afraid to go out, but today I had to. This situation caught me without food and I need to figure things out. After all, Venezuelans are used to enduring fear," said a single mother in oil city Maracaibo who bought rice, vegetables and tuna.
To the disappointment of Venezuela's opposition, Trump has given short shrift to the idea of 58-year-old opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado taking over, saying she lacked support.
Machado was banned from standing in the 2024 election but has said her ally Edmundo Gonzalez, 76, who the opposition and some international observers say overwhelmingly won that vote, has a democratic mandate to take the presidency.
LOOMING QUESTIONS
It is unclear how Trump plans to oversee Venezuela and he runs the risk of alienating some supporters who oppose foreign interventions.
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, who leads Senate Democrats, said the White House has failed to answer critical questions, including how long the U.S. intends to be in Venezuela and how many American troops might be required.
"The American people are worried that this is creating an endless war — the very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against over and over and over again," Schumer said on ABC's "This Week." He said lawmakers would weigh a measure to constrain further Trump administration action in Venezuela.
While many Western nations oppose Maduro, there were many calls for the U.S. to respect international law and resolve the crisis diplomatically. Questions arose over the legality of seizing a foreign head of state.
The U.N. Security Council planned to meet on Monday to discuss the U.S. attack. Russia and China, both major backers of Venezuela, have criticized the U.S.
What the eff do you expect? Felon hasn't been truthful his whole sorry life.
Their reasoning behind the whole Venezuela operation rests on one lie after another. Who knows what is the truth. They may not know themselves. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
..that Trump had better have land, sea and air protection for Mar-a-Lardo. Sub or fake ‘freighter’ offshore, quick attack boats, a helicopter attack from Cuba or somewhere offshore, and Trump is GONE. Very vulnerable location.
Live like a pirate and you are anybody’s target.. RESIST!
MIAMI (AP) — In 2017, as political outsider Donald Trump headed to Washington, Delcy Rodríguez spotted an opening.
Then Venezuela’s foreign minister, Rodríguez directed Citgo — a subsidiary of the state oil company — to make a $500,000 donation to the president’s inauguration. With the socialist administration of Nicolas Maduro struggling to feed Venezuela, Rodríguez gambled on a deal that would have opened the door to American investment. Around the same time, she saw that Trump’s ex-campaign manager was hired as a lobbyist for Citgo, courted Republicans in Congress and tried to secure a meeting with the head of Exxon.
The charm offensive flopped. Within weeks of taking office, Trump, urged by then-Sen. Marco Rubio, made restoring Venezuela’s democracy his driving focus in response to Maduro’s crackdown on opponents. But the outreach did bear fruit for Rodríguez, making her a prominent face in U.S. business and political circles and paving the way for her own rise.
“She’s an ideologue, but a practical one,” said Lee McClenny, a retired foreign service officer who was the top U.S. diplomat in Caracas during the period of Rodríguez’s outreach. “She knew that Venezuela needed to find a way to resuscitate a moribund oil economy and seemed willing to work with the Trump administration to do that.”
Nearly a decade later, as Venezuela’s interim president, Rodríguez’s message — that Venezuela is open for business — seems to have persuaded Trump. In the days since Maduro’s stunning capture Saturday, he’s alternately praised Rodríguez as a “gracious” American partner while threatening a similar fate as her former boss if she doesn’t keep the ruling party in check and provide the U.S. with “total access” to the country’s vast oil reserves. One thing neither has mentioned is elections, something the constitution mandates must take place within 30 days of the presidency being permanently vacated.
US supports her with military force..she wins over all or most of their military..she’s Trump’s stooge and oil salesperson..another Latin right-wing dictatorship.
Its a whole herd of liars. A team of liars. Name ANYONE in the felon's administration, and that person is a habitual liar.
Some are stupid. Rubio is exemplary.
Rename the Washington team too.
Commandeers.
a : to compel to perform military service Civilians were commandeered by the army and forced to fight. b : to seize for military purposes The soldiers commandeered civilian vehicles to help transport the injured. 2 : to take arbitrary or forcible possession of The city commandeered 60 acres of the property by eminent domain for a new high school.You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
on January 5, 2026, 5:05 pm
