Venezuela's V-P Delcy Rodriguez demands U.S. free Maduro, calls him country's ‘only president’

Venezuela's Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez on Saturday (January 3, 2026) demanded in a speech that the U.S. free President Nicolas Maduro and called him the country's rightful leader.

Mr. Maduro and his wife, seized overnight from their home on a military base, were aboard a U.S. warship on their way to New York to face prosecution for a Justice Department indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

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Speaking live on television, Ms. Rodriguez demanded “the immediate release” and said: “The only president of Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro.”

With inputs from AP, AFP