Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodríguez (center) speaks alongside Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López (second from left) and Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Diosdado Cabello (second from right) during a meeting of the Council of Ministers at the headquarters of the Vice Presidency in Caracas on January 4, 2026. Photo: AFP

On Sunday, Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodríguez sent a message via social media to the US government, and in particular to President Donald Trump, inviting the two countries to develop relations based on balance and mutual respect, according to multiple media reports. 

"Venezuela reaffirms its commitment to peace and peaceful coexistence. Our country aspires to live without external threats, in an environment of respect and international cooperation. We believe that global peace is built by first guaranteeing peace within each nation," according to a post Rodríguez wrote in Instagram on Sunday. 

"We invite 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," read the post. 

"President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. This has always been President Nicolás Maduro's message, and it is the message of all of Venezuela right now. This is the Venezuela I believe in and have dedicated my life to. I dream of a Venezuela where all good Venezuelans can come together. Venezuela has the right to peace, development, sovereignty and a future," according to the post.

Some media outlets, including the Associated Press and the Bloomberg also reported about Rodríguez's latest statement. The Bloomberg report noted that Rodríguez, the acting president of Venezuela, asked the US to work with her country, "striking a more conciliatory tone toward the Trump administration after her initial outrage at the capture of President Nicolás Maduro."

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is due to meet on Monday after the US attacked Venezuela and deposed its President Nicolas Maduro, a move that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres views as setting "a dangerous precedent," according to Reuters. 

Colombia, backed by Russia and China, requested the meeting of the 15-member council, diplomats said. The UNSC has met twice - in October and December - over the escalating tensions between the US and Venezuela, per Reuters. 

Within hours of being seized by US commandos in Saturday's pre-dawn attack, Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, were sitting in a New York jail. Maduro is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in New York at noon Monday, to be formally notified about the charges against him, according a report from the Barron's. 

The US ramps up pressure on Venezuela. According to Reuters. US President Trump said on Saturday that Washington would run Venezuela "until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition." It is unclear how Trump plans to oversee Venezuela.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday the US is not at war with Venezuela, adding that the US is "running policy" in Venezuela — not with troops on the ground but through financial leverage on the remaining allies of Maduro, according to American media.

"We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction because not only do we think it's good for the people of Venezuela, it's in our national interest," Rubio claimed in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press.

Rubio, who is also President Trump's interim national security adviser, said the US will enforce its influence through an existing "oil quarantine" imposed by US naval vessels near the coast of Venezuela, according to a report from the NPR.

US Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton echoed Rubio in calling for a pressure campaign against Maduro's allies who still control the country. Cotton specifically named Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who previously served as vice president under Maduro, per NPR.

During a Sunday interview with The Atlantic magazine, Trump said Rodriguez would "pay a very big price" if she didn't cooperate, a day after he claimed that she was on board with the US plans.

Maduro's congressman son Maduro Guerra called Sunday for Venezuelans to take to the streets following his father's ouster by US forces and transfer to a New York jail, according to a report from the Barron's. 

The report said that the seamless execution of the operation to grab Venezuela's leader from his hiding place in the capital Caracas and fly him out of the country has led to speculation that the socialist firebrand was betrayed by someone within his inner circle. Echoing those rumors, his son said: "History will tell who the traitors were, history will reveal it. We will see."

Maduro Guerra is the only biological son of the ousted president, who later adopted the three children of his second wife Flores. Some Maduro supporters were seen Sunday demonstrating in the streets of Caracas, waving flags and holding up posters showing the ousted leader, per Barron's. 

The leaders of Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay issued a joint statement on Sunday rejecting the US military operation that led to the ousting of Nicolás Maduro and warned against the appropriation of the country's vast natural resources after the US said it would run Venezuela on the interim, according to the Euro News. 


Global Times