Rodríguez, Venezuela’s acting leader, invited the United States today to work together on an agenda but said Venezuela maintains its right to “peace, development, sovereignty, and a future.”
She made the remarks in a statement on Telegram, in which she also said Venezuela can exist in a balanced relationship with the U.S. and neighbors while maintaining “non-interference.”
“We extend an invitation to the U.S. government to work together on a cooperation agenda, oriented toward shared development, within the framework of international law, and to strengthen lasting community coexistence,” Rodríguez said.
She directed a line at Trump: “Our people and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war. That has always been President Nicolás Maduro’s position, and it is the position of all of Venezuela at this moment.”
Trump warned earlier today that if Rodríguez “doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.”
Venezuela’s supreme court ruled that she will assume the role of acting president after U.S. forces captured Maduro and brought him to the U.S. Rodríguez said yesterday that Maduro is “the only president of Venezuela.”
Speaking tonight on Air Force One, Trump stated what he wants for the U.S. from Rodríguez: “We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.”