A CIA officer met face-to-face with Venezuela’s interim leader: an American official
Listen to this article
Average 3 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations may occur. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Venezuela’s interim leader in Caracas to discuss cooperation, a U.S. official said Friday, in the most publicized trip by a U.S. official since the U.S. ousted Venezuela’s president. Nicolas Maduro this month.
Ratcliffe met on Thursday with Delcy Rodríguez at the behest of US President Donald Trump, “to convey the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship,” the official said.
They discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and the need to ensure that Venezuela is no longer “a safe haven for America’s enemies, especially drug traffickers.”
The visit took place on the same day Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize at the White House.
Since sending troops to oust Maduro, Washington has refrained from saying that the opposition must take power, although it had previously said that Machado’s partner deservedly won the 2024 election.
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Machado met with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday. The meeting came after Trump refused to authorize him to take over from ousted president Nicolás Maduro.
Rodríguez, a former vice president under Maduro, assumed the presidency temporarily after the US military arrested Maduro and took him to the United States to stand trial on drug charges.
Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said on Friday that the US attack that captured and removed Maduro from power killed 47 Venezuelan soldiers, including nine women.
On Thursday, Cuba found the remains of 32 of its soldiers who were killed in the war in the early hours of Jan. 3. Venezuela’s interior minister said last week that 100 people were killed in the attack, without specifying how many soldiers.
Trump, Rodríguez spoke by phone
Trump spoke with Rodríguez by phone on Wednesday, with the two leaders each separately describing the call as positive.
Rodríguez has criticized the Trump administration for “kidnapping” Maduro and told him to return. However, Washington said he is favored as an interim leader to maintain stability.
The American official said that the Ratcliffe meeting, which lasted for two hours, focused on building trust between the United States and Venezuela.
“The director has made it clear that Venezuela can no longer support drug traffickers like TDA,” the official said, referring to the Tren de Aragua, a gang.
The New York Times first reported on Ratcliffe’s trip.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
