(May 14, 2026)
Twice this week, U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed interest in turning Venezuela into his country’s 51st state. The latest came via a Truth Social post Tuesday with a map showing the South American country filled with the U.S. flag.
Previous statements doubting Venezuela’s sovereignty over the past 25 years have been met with immediate derision from senior government officials, including the president.
(January 16, 2026)
CIA director John Ratcliffe met with Venezuela‘s interim President Delcy Rodríguez for two hours Thursday in Venezuela‘s capital, Caracas, to „deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship,“ a U.S. official told CBS News Friday.
The official described the trip as historic, noting that Ratcliffe was the first Cabinet-level official to visit Venezuela since the U.S. military operation to remove the country‘s autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro nearly two weeks ago.
“The president has done a really good job. We get along with him really well,” Trump added.
The acting president, Delcy Rodríguez—who was Maduro’s vice president and has led the country since a military raid that saw Maduro captured and flown to the U.S. to face trial—is a woman. Rodríguez assumed presidential powers after Maduro’s capture in January.
(January 13, 2026)
Who she is: Venezuela‘s interim president
Portfolio: Maduro‘s former vice president, she‘s running the country under the oversight of the United States.
Why she matters: A seasoned lawyer and longtime party official, she‘s known as the „tsarina“ for the economic power she accrued as vice president, oil minister and finance minister. She‘s technically under sanction for serving in the Maduro government, but she has won the trust of the US government (for now) and is seen by US oil company executives as most able to work with them to rebuild the country‘s degraded energy infrastructure.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel, whose country is rapidly running out of fuel, said the talks were based on “respect for the political systems of both countries.”
Asked whether the United States was playing a role in the Cuban government’s demise, Trump responded: “Well, what do you think? For 50 years, that’s icing on the cake. Venezuela is doing fantastically. [Delcy Rodríguez] is doing a fantastic job. The relationship with them is great.”
Trump also confirmed the United States is in touch with Cuba’s communist leadership as instability on the island intensifies following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
“They need help. We are talking to Cuba,” Trump said.
The top US military commander for Latin America, General Francis Donovan, and senior Pentagon official Joseph Humire made an unannounced visit to Venezuela on Wednesday for security talks with interim authorities in Caracas. This marks the first US military delegation trip to Venezuela since the capture of the country‘s ousted leader Nicolas Maduro last month.
During the meeting, both countries agreed to work on designing a bilateral cooperation agenda to combat illicit drug trafficking in our region, terrorism, and migration.
CIA director John Ratcliffe met with Venezuela‘s interim President Delcy Rodríguez for two hours Thursday in Venezuela‘s capital, Caracas, to „deliver the message that the United States looks forward to an improved working relationship,“ a U.S. official told CBS News Friday.
The official described the trip as historic, noting that Ratcliffe was the first Cabinet-level official to visit Venezuela since the U.S. military operation to remove the country‘s autocratic leader Nicolás Maduro nearly two weeks ago.
President Trump on Sunday threatened that Venezuela’s new acting president, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, would have a fate worse than Nicolas Maduro’s if she doesn’t do the bidding of the US.
“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump told The Atlantic a day after his military abducted Maduro from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and flew him to New York, where he is now in a jail cell in Brooklyn.
Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez demanded proof of life from the US government for President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Deputy Cilia Flores, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
In a phone call to the state channel VTV, Rodríguez demanded an “immediate proof of life” from the US government and stressed that Maduro had warned about the US aggression motivated by the US‘s energy voracity.
During the formation of the Bolivarian Base Committee in the Caracas parish of La Pastora, he declared that „those who want to hand over Venezuela, its natural resources, and fascist extremism are encountering the unyielding fist of the organized people. They will not succeed against us.“
Rodríguez emphasized that the US has decided to declare war on the entire planet, „and Venezuela must be prepared to defend our sovereignty. Who is going to come and give us orders from another country? Nobody, nobody gives us orders. The only one is the Venezuelan people, who are well organized.“