“Acting President” of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez said she has had “enough” of Washington’s orders during a Sunday state media broadcast.
Rodríguez delivered her remarks speaking to oil workers at a state-owned oil company PDVSA refinery in Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui, where she reportedly asserted the Venezuelan socialist regime is willing to resolve disputes with the United States through diplomatic channels, but “face to face,” with “dignity and honor.”
“And that is why it is important that we open up spaces for democratic divergence, but that it be politics with a capital P and a V for Venezuela. Enough of Washington’s orders on politicians in Venezuela. Let Venezuelan politics resolve our differences and internal conflicts,” Rodríguez said.
“Enough of foreign powers. It has cost this republic dearly to have to face the consequences of fascism and extremism in our country,” she continued.
Rodríguez was sworn in as “acting President” of Venezuela in the hours following the January 3, 2026 U.S. law enforcement operation in Caracas to capture socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. At the time of Maduro’s capture, Rodríguez concurrently served as the now-deposed dictator’s Vice President and Oil Minister, and continues to carry out the ministerial functions at press time.
Venezuelan independent outlets reported that, during the same event, Rodríguez claimed that Maduro is a “war prisoner” and threatened to revoke the nationality of those in exile who “celebrated” his capture. According to her, a “red line” was crossed by the events of January 3.
“You know that we have a prisoner of war named Nicolás Maduro Moros, and from where he is, he sends his regards to the Venezuelan people. His message always includes words of encouragement for the people,” Rodríguez said.
“Those who dared to go to the U.S. to express their gratitude for the bombing of our people do not deserve the dignity of this country, nor its nationality. Those who have called for blockades, invasion, and the dropping of bombs do not deserve our nationality, identity, and the recognition of the Venezuelan people. They cannot be included in the life of our republic,” she reportedly stressed at another part of her speech.
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“We never thought that Caracas would be attacked by a foreign force. We had to face the darkest side of human nature, which is war, under unequal conditions. The time to come, as we said yesterday, must find all Venezuelans united,” she continued.
In the days following Maduro’s capture, President Donald Trump has told reporters that Rodríguez is cooperating with the United States and is in close talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Trump and Rodríguez spoke over the phone in mid-January and met with Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director John Ratcliffe in Caracas days later.
Locally, however, she has repeatedly insisted that she is “in charge” of Venezuela and not the United States.
“If I have to go to Washington, I’ll go standing up, not crawling,” Rodríguez claimed during a January 15 address to the Venezuelan National Assembly.
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