Venezuela’s interim president offers US cooperation after Trump says further strike possible

(Reuters)

Jan 5 – Venezuela’s acting president offered on Sunday to collaborate with the United States on an agenda focused on “shared development”, striking a conciliatory tone for the first time since U.S. forces captured the oil-rich nation’s president, Nicolas Maduro.

In a statement posted on social media, Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said her government was prioritizing a move towards respectful relations with the United States, having earlier criticized the raid on Saturday as an illegal grab for the country’s national resources.

“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 said. “President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”

Rodriguez, who also serves as oil minister, has long been considered the most pragmatic member of Maduro’s inner circle and Trump had said she was willing to work with the U.S..

Publicly, however, she and other officials had called the detentions of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores a kidnapping and said Maduro remains the nation’s legitimate leader.

Trump told reporters on Sunday that he could order another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with U.S. efforts to open up its oil industry and stop drug trafficking.

Trump also threatened military action in Colombia and Mexico and said Cuba’s communist regime “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own. The Colombian and Mexican embassies in Washington did not immediately return requests for comment.