U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his openness on Sunday to holding a meeting with Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, who has confirmed she will continue her duties until the return of detained President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump stated, “Things are going very well with Venezuela,” adding, “We are working very well with the new U.S.-Venezuelan leadership.”
When asked if he intended to meet with Rodríguez, who served as vice president under the detained leader, he replied, “At some point, I will.”
Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president following the arrest of Maduro and his wife on January 3. Since then, she has entered into multi-front negotiations with Washington, which seeks to leverage Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Pledge and Condemnation
For her part, Rodríguez vowed to secure the release of Maduro’s family and condemned the U.S. strike against her country as a “criminal act of aggression against the Venezuelan people” during a televised speech, according to the Venezuela Times.
Speaking at a public event in the Sucre municipality, east of Caracas, on Saturday, Rodríguez emphasized that she would continue to denounce the U.S. strike, stating it “will be recorded in history as a stain on the relations between the two countries.”
This follows an executive order signed by the U.S. President, seen as a step toward controlling future Venezuelan oil sales and revenues by declaring a “national emergency” and issuing a directive aimed at preventing any legal claims to these proceeds.
According to a White House statement, the executive order signed by Trump on Saturday aims to protect Venezuelan oil revenues held in U.S. Treasury accounts and prevent the Latin American nation’s creditors from seizing them to settle debts or other legal claims.
In a related context, Caracas decided to begin an “exploratory process” aimed at resuming diplomatic relations with the United States, which have been severed since 2019, while asserting that it is not “subordinate” to Washington.
United News Network – UNN Arabic
An independent media platform providing reliable news and objective analysis, seeking to promote peace and cultural dialogue worldwide, to convey the truth and build bridges of understanding between peoples.
For more news, you can visit our homepage:
