Interim Venezuelan leader offers to ‘collaborate’ with US after Trump warning Submitted by MEE staff on Mon, 01/05/2026 - 11:19 Delcy Rodriguez strikes conciliatory tone after US president warned her to do what is right or 'pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro' Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks during a press conference in Caracas on 11 August 2025 (AFP/File photo/Juan Barreto) Off Venezuela’s interim president has offered “to collaborate” with the Donald Trump administration, striking a conciliatory tone days after the US operation which seized President Nicolas Maduro. Delcy Rodriguez, the country’s vice president, is due to be sworn in as acting president on Monday. “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,” Rodriguez wrote on X. Earlier during the weekend, the vice president said the seizure of Maduro had "Zionist undertones". "Governments around the world are shocked that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has become the victim and target of an attack of this nature, which undoubtedly has Zionist undertones," Rodriguez said in a televised address on Saturday. US special forces seized Maduro and his wife from the capital, Caracas, early on Saturday, as American fighter jets bombed key military installations and bases across the country. On Sunday, the US president fired a warning at Rodriguez. 'She is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro' - US President Donald Trump “If she doesn't do what's right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump told the Atlantic. “Regime change, anything you want to call it, is better than what you have right now. Can't get any worse,” he added. Trump has said that the US will run Venezuela until “a safe and proper and judicious transition” is possible. He also said that US oil companies would move in and “start making money for the country”. With 303 billion barrels worth of crude oil, accounting for 17 per cent of global reserves, Venezuela has the largest known reserves in the world, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The country has more crude than Saudi Arabia , Iran , Iraq , and more than three times the reserves of the United States. Trump takes aim at Colombian leader Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are due to appear at a New York court on Monday at midday US time, faced with drug trafficking charges. The longtime Venezuelan ruler is likely to contest the legality of his arrest and argue that he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of state. Trump also took aim at Cuba and Colombia on Sunday. He called Gustavo Petro, the leftist Colombian president, “a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he’s not going to be doing it very long.” Why Israel wants to see Maduro overthrown in Venezuela Read More » Asked whether Washington will carry out a similar military operation in Colombia as in Venezuela, Trump said “sounds good”. It’s not clear what Trump meant when he said Petro won’t be “doing it very long” - it could be a reference to the country's presidential elections on 31 May, when he must step down under Colombia's constitution. “Stop slandering me, Mr Trump,” Petro responded on X, refuting the president’s accusations. “That’s not how you threaten a Latin American president who emerged from the armed struggle and then from the people of Colombia’s fight for Peace.” Petro later said that the “entire Venezuelan, Colombian and Latin American people must take to the streets”. On Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, Trump said military action would not be needed and that “Cuba is going to fall on its own volition”. Havana announced that 32 of its citizens were killed in the US operation to capture Maduro and Flores. The Cuban government said those killed were members of the armed forces and intelligence agencies. Two days of national mourning were declared. The New York Times reported on Sunday that at least 80 people had been killed in the US attack, including civilians. Many Western countries welcomed Maduro's removal, but some raised questions about the legality of the US operation. "Spain did not recognise the Maduro regime. But neither will it recognise an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region towards a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence," Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said. Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay issued a joint statement, saying that US actions “constitute an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security and endanger the civilian population”. US Attacks News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0