Their government on Saturday asked its citizens to leave “immediately” because of the volatile security situation there, a week after the capture of the president, who announced from prison in New York that he was “fine”.
“We are fine. We are fighters,” was the message from the ousted president delivered by his son Nicolas Maduro Guerra – popularly known as “Nicolasito (meaning little Nicholas) – to officials of the ruling PSUV party in Caracas. “Don’t be sorry,” Maduro, 63, told his lawyers, according to his son.
Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, pleaded not guilty at their appearance on Monday before the American judiciary, which mainly accuses them of drug trafficking. They are now in a federal detention center in Brooklyn until their next hearing on March 17.
Carrying banners that read “We want them back,” about 1,000 protesters took to the streets of Caracas yesterday, chanting “Maduro and Silia are our family!”
“Here, there are people fighting,” said Yusleidis Arroyo, 36.
Calls for demonstrations in support of Venezuela’s ousted president are common after the US military operation in the country on January 3.
In addition, state television broadcast footage of the visit made by the interim president of the country, Delsy Rodríguez, to an agricultural fair in Petare, an emblematic district of Caracas where a small demonstration in favor of Maduro was held.
“We will not rest for a minute until we get the president back,” Rodriguez stressed. “We will save him, of course we will.”
“close contact”
In the wake of Maduro’s surprise downfall, he is negotiating on many fronts with Washington, which wants, among other things, to benefit from Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Its government has “decided to initiate an exploratory process” aimed at restoring diplomatic relations with the US, which have been severed since 2019.
Following a visit by US diplomats to Caracas on Friday, “the Trump administration remains in close contact with the transitional authorities,” a State Department official said yesterday.
Trump claimed he had “canceled” a second US attack on Venezuela thanks to Caracas’ “cooperation” and noted that Washington intends to “dictate” all the country’s decisions. Rodriguez countered that her country is not “Washington’s” and underlined her “loyalty to President Nicolás Maduro.”
The State Department yesterday asked Americans not to travel to Venezuela and those already there to “leave the country immediately” because of the “volatile” security situation.
“There are reports of armed militia groups, known as colectivos, setting up roadblocks and searching vehicles for evidence of US citizenship or support for the US. US citizens in Venezuela should remain alert and use caution when traveling by road,” the State Department directive reads.
About 20 releases
The US warning “is based on non-existent narratives intended to create a perception of danger that does not exist,” Caracas responded in a statement, adding that “Venezuela enjoys absolute calm, peace and stability.”
“Venezuela has begun, IN SPECTACULAR WAY, to release its political prisoners. Thank you!” Trump commented yesterday on the Truth Social platform, referring to the announcement made on Thursday by the Speaker of the Parliament Jorge Rodriguez, brother of Delsy Rodriguez, about the release of “many prisoners”.
Non-governmental organizations and the opposition say 21 have been released so far, while NGOs estimate the total to be between 800 and 1,200.
