'US forces gave us 15 minutes or they'd kill us': Venezuela's acting Prez opens up about the capturing of Maduro

Delcy Rodriguez

• Rodriguez claims US threatened Venezuelan leaders after Maduro's capture
• Leaked video shows Rodriguez aimed to preserve power amid US pressure
• Trump praised Rodriguez's compliance, linking it to US access to oil reserves

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Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez has alleged that US forces threatened to kill senior members of the Venezuelan leadership if they did not comply with American demands following the capture of former president Nicolas Maduro.

According to Rodriguez, the threats began immediately after Maduro was taken into custody. “The threats began from the very first minute they kidnapped the president. They gave Diosdado [Cabello, the interior minister], Jorge [Rodriguez, the acting president's brother and congressional president,] and me 15 minutes to respond, or they would kill us,” she said.

Her remarks appear in a leaked video of a two hour meeting held in Venezuela seven days after the US operation. In the recording, obtained by the local journalism collective La Hora de Venezuela, Rodriguez can be heard telling senior figures that her primary objective was to “preserve political power”. The footage sheds light on how remaining members of the ruling establishment sought to reassert control after Maduro was removed by US forces.

While there were reports at the time suggesting that Rodriguez and her brother had agreed to cooperate with former US President Donald Trump before Maduro was captured, the video indicates that members of the leadership were deeply concerned about being seen as traitors.

In the recording, Rodriguez said it “hurt ... to have to assume responsibilities in these circumstances”. She also claimed that US forces told them that “[Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores] had been assassinated, not kidnapped”. She added that she, her brother and Cabello “were ready to share the same fate”.

“And I tell you, we stand by that statement to this day, because the threats and the blackmail are constant, and we have to proceed with patience and strategic prudence, with very clear objectives, brothers and sisters,” she said. She then outlined three priorities: “to preserve peace ... to rescue our hostages ... and to preserve political power”.

Trump has publicly praised Rodriguez for cooperating with his administration’s demands. Rodriguez, however, has said she acted under duress due to what she described as ongoing pressure. In January, Trump told The Atlantic that if Rodriguez failed to do what was right, “she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro”.

Not all analysts accept Rodriguez’s account at face value. Historian and political analyst Margarita Lopez Maya told the Guardian that the narrative may serve Rodriguez’s own interests. “Because everyone knows that Maduro's removal could only have happened with internal complicity,” she said.

Despite strong public criticism of the US since Maduro’s capture, Venezuela’s government has complied with Washington’s demands. Maduro was succeeded by his vice president Rodriguez, a move backed by Trump on the condition that the US would gain access to Venezuela’s oil reserves.

Earlier this week, Trump praised Rodriguez’s leadership as “very strong” and said the United States stood to “become richer” by taking a share of Venezuela’s crude exports.