US President Donald Trump has warned Venezuela’s new leader Delcy Rodríguez she could “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she “doesn’t do what’s right”.
His comments comes ahead of President Nicolás Maduro Court appeal in a New York court on Monday.
The US accuses Maduro, who is charged with drug trafficking and weapons offences, of running a “narco-terrorist” regime, a claim he denies.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted the US is not at war with Venezuela, after air strikes in Caracas on Saturday led to Maduro and his wife being taken into custody and transported to the US.
On Saturday, Trump had vowed the US would “run” the country until “a safe and proper and judicious transition” was possible.
Trump also promised US oil companies would move into the country to fix infrastructure “and start making money for the country”.
Despite the US president’s claims, Maduro’s allies remain in charge.
The Cuban government has said 32 “brave Cuban combatants” died when US forces attacked and captured Maduro and his wife. Cuba – a longstanding socialist ally of Maduro – has announced two days of national mourning.
“We are at war against drug trafficking organisations. That’s not a war against Venezuela,” Rubio told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning.
The secretary of state also told CBS that if Venezuela doesn’t “make the right decisions”, the US “will retain multiple levers of leverage to ensure that our interests are protected”.
“We’re going to judge everything by what they do, and we’re going to see what they do,” he added.
Trump also threatened Venezuela’s neighbour Colombia, in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One.Maduro, who leads the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and has been in power since 2013, has frequently been accused of repressing opposition groups and silencing dissent in Venezuela, at times with the use of violence.
He is widely seen by opponents within his country as well as by foreign governments as having illegitimately won Venezuela’s 2024 election.
Venezuela’s left-wing leader and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured at their compound and flown to the US, as part of a dramatic special forces operation in the early hours of Saturday that also saw strikes on military bases.
The couple have since been charged with weapon and drug offences and are set to appear at a court in New York on Monday.
Maduro has denied being a cartel leader and has accused the US of using its “war on drugs” as an excuse to try to depose him and get its hands on Venezuela’s oil.
While US officials have said that no American troops were harmed in the attacks, Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino said a “large part” of Maduro’s security team and “soldiers and innocent civilians” were killed in the US operation.
