Venezuelan Government Drops Demands for Release of Nicolás Maduro

The Venezuelan government has ceased making demands for the release of deposed dictator Nicolás Maduro, who is currently held in a Brooklyn prison on drug trafficking charges. During five rounds of negotiations with the opposition that concluded last week, the administration led by interim leader Delcy Rodríguez made no mention of Maduro's liberation. This shift follows the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, by U.S. military forces in a night operation on January 3.

Under the leadership of Rodríguez, a former vice president under Maduro, the government has gained support from the White House. In exchange for this support, Rodríguez has opened Venezuela's natural resources to foreign investors and granted U.S. companies access to oil reserves. While Rodríguez initially called the capture of Maduro an aggression, she now rarely mentions him in public. This change is reflected in the removal of pro Maduro billboards and the erasing of murals across Venezuelan cities.

The recent negotiations focused primarily on judicial reform and the repatriation of approximately 4 billion U.S. dollars in gold bars from the Bank of England to fund recovery from devastating earthquakes in June. While the government claimed to have released 131 political prisoners, the human rights organization Foro Penal confirmed only 78 releases. Efforts to reach an agreement on new presidential elections yielded few concrete results.

Internal tension remains within the country. Some loyal Chavistas believe Maduro was betrayed by his inner circle, while the opposition faces controversy for excluding its most popular leader, Nobel laureate María Corina Machado. The Venezuelan regime did not respond to requests for comment.