Venezuelan acting president offers to 'collaborate' with US after Maduro's capture

Venezuelan vice-president Delcy Rodríguez, appointed acting president after Nicolás Maduro was seized by US forces in Caracas and taken to the United States, said she would 'collaborate' with the US in a conciliatory Instagram message. Rodríguez invited the US government "to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law," while earlier condemning the operation as "an atrocity that violates international law" and calling the US government "extremists".

She also announced a commission to seek the release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Donald Trump has said the US will "run" Venezuela, warned of further strikes if officials do not cooperate and said the US is "in charge," adding that Washington would work with remaining Venezuelan officials on drug trafficking and oil industry access.

Reports of casualties from the US operation are contested: the Cuban government said 32 of its citizens, described as members of the armed forces and intelligence agencies, were killed and declared two days of mourning; Venezuela has not officially confirmed the toll, while the New York Times reported at least 40 people killed, citing an anonymous senior Venezuelan official.

Venezuelan officials have called the seizure a kidnapping.

Key Topics

World, Delcy Rodríguez, Nicolás Maduro, Donald Trump, Venezuela, Cuba