Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's Interim President, Offers to 'Collaborate' With Trump Admin

New Delhi: Venezuela's new interim president Delcy Rodríguez has taken the place of her captured ally president Nicolás Maduro, and offered “to collaborate” with the Trump administration in what could be a seismic shift in relations between the adversary governments.

Maduro was captured by the United States in a nighttime military operation on Saturday, January 3.

The Latin American outlet TeleSUR has reported that Rodriguez called the US government to move toward a “a balanced and respectful international relationship” and between Venezuela and the countries of the region, based on sovereign equality and non-interference.

“Venezuela reaffirms its vocation for 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 ensuring the peace of each nation," she said, according to TeleSUR.

Extending an invitation to the US government to work together on a cooperative agenda, Rodriguez said that her administration will be “oriented towards shared development, within the framework of international legality and strengthen lasting community coexistence.”

“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,” she wrote.

“President Donald Trump: Our people and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. That has always been the predicament of President Nicolás Maduro and it is the one of all Venezuela at this moment,” Rodriguez said, according to TeleSUR.

Rodríguez served as Maduro's vice president since 2018, overseeing much of Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy and its feared intelligence service. She is understood to be backed by Venezuela’s military.

Ally or adversary

Rodríguez, a 56-year-old lawyer and politician has had a lengthy career representing the revolution started by the late Hugo Chávez on the world stage.

Her rise to become interim leader of the South American country came as a surprise on Saturday morning, when Trump announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been in communication with Rodríguez and that the Venezuelan leader was “gracious” and would work with the American government. Rubio said Rodríguez was someone the administration could work with, unlike Maduro.

But in an earlier televised address, Rodríguez had given no indication that she would cooperate with Trump, referring to his government as “extremists" and maintaining that Maduro was Venezuela's rightful leader.

“What is being done to Venezuela is an atrocity that violates international law,” Rodríguez said, surrounded by high-ranking civilian officials and military leaders.

Trump warned on Sunday that if Rodríguez didn't fall in line, “she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.” He added that he wanted her to provide “total access,” from oil facilities to basic infrastructure like roads, so they can be rebuilt.

Trump’s comments also followed Rubio having asserted in TV interviews on Sunday that he didn’t see Rodríguez and her government as “legitimate” because he said the country never held free and fair elections.

But as reported earlier in this piece, in her statements posted to Instagram on Sunday, Rodrigues took a major shift in tone.

Unlike many in Maduro’s inner circle, Delcy Rodríguez and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, head of the Maduro-controlled National Assembly, have avoided criminal indictment in the US, though the interim president did face U.S. sanctions during Trump's first term for her role in undermining Venezuelan democracy.

It's unclear how long Rodríguez will hold power, or how closely she will work with the Trump administration.

(With inputs from AP)

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