Venezuela seeks to sign independence from US after Maduro’s arrest | EUROtoday

Venezuela’s authorities on Monday sought to display its independence from U.S. management, following the beautiful weekend arrest of authoritarian chief Nicolás Maduro, who had dominated for nearly 13 years.

In Caracas, ruling celebration lawmakers, together with Maduro’s son, gathered for the scheduled National Assembly swearing-in, set to serve till 2031. Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vp who vowed to work with the Trump administration, was inaugurated as interim president by her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, reelected speaker.

Raising her proper hand, Rodríguez declared: “I come with sorrow for the suffering inflicted upon the Venezuelan people following an illegitimate military aggression against our homeland.”

Venezuelan lawmakers gave speeches centered on condemning Maduro’s seize Saturday by U.S. forces.

“If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no nation is secure. Today, it’s Venezuela. Tomorrow, it might be any nation that refuses to submit,” Maduro’s son, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, said at the legislative palace in his first public appearance since Saturday. “This will not be a regional downside. It is a direct risk to international political stability.”

Maduro Guerra, also known as “Nicolasito,” demanded that his father and stepmother, Cilia Flores, be returned to the South American country and called on international support. Maduro Guerra, the deposed leader’s only son, also denounced being named as a co-conspirator in the federal indictment charging his father and Flores.

While Venezuelan lawmakers met, Maduro made his first court appearance in a U.S. courtroom on the narco-terrorism charges the Trump administration used to justify capturing him and taking him to New York. Maduro declared himself “innocent” and a “decent man” as he pleaded not guilty to federal drug-trafficking charges.

The U.S. seized Maduro and Flores in a military operation Saturday, capturing them in their home on a military base. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela temporarily, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that it would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing ” oil quarantine.”

Rubio said the U.S. was using pressure on Venezuela’s oil industry as a way to push for policy changes. “We count on to see that there will likely be modifications, not simply in the way in which the oil trade is run for the good thing about the individuals, but in addition in order that they cease the drug trafficking,” Rubio mentioned on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

On Sunday, Rodríguez mentioned Venezuela is searching for “respectful relations” with the U.S., a shift from a extra defiant tone she struck within the fast aftermath of Maduro’s seize.

“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,” Rodríguez mentioned in a press release. Her conciliatory message got here after Trump threatened that she may “pay a very big price” if she didn’t fall in keeping with U.S. calls for.

Before taking the oath of workplace, Venezuelan lawmaker Grecia Colmenares mentioned she would “take every giant step to bring back (to Venezuela) the bravest of the brave, Nicolás Maduro Moreno, and our first lady, Cilia Flores.”

“I swear by the shared destiny we deserve,” she mentioned.

A State Department official mentioned Monday that the Trump administration is making preliminary plans to reopen the U.S. embassy in Venezuela.

The official, who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate inside administration deliberations, mentioned early preparations “to allow for a reopening” of the embassy in Caracas had begun within the occasion Trump decides to return American diplomats to the nation.