Reuters World News - Venezuela: Trump’s threats, Caracas’ change of tone and Maduro in court

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

Venezuela's acting president is offering to collaborate with the United States after President Trump threatens further strikes. Deposed president Nicolas Maduro is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in New York, as the United Nations meets to discuss the legality of his capture. Plus, Trump suggests Colombia and Mexico could also face military action if they do not reduce the flow of illicit drugs to the United States.  Listen to Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Monday, January 5th. Today, Venezuela's interim president seeks U.S. cooperation after Trump threatens more strikes. Ostered President Nicolas Maduro is said to appear in a New York court. The Security Council prepares to convene to discuss the legality of the weekend raid, and Venezuelans abroad celebrate and decry Washington. moves. This is Reuters' World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Venezuela's acting president is asking the U.S. to work with her country. The sharp turnaround comes after President Donald Trump warned he could order another military strike if Venezuela's remaining leaders don't cooperate. In a statement on social media,

Delci Rodriguez said her government was prioritizing a move towards respectful relations with the US. It's a dramatic change in tone toward the Trump administration after her initial outrage at the capture of President Nicolas Maduro. She had previously called the weekend raid barbaric and an illegal kidnapping, claiming the US was making a grab for the country's national resources. The audacious intervention has stunned America's allies and adversaries alike. Trump is also suggesting Colombia and Mexico could face military action if they don't reduce the flow of drugs into the US

and says Cuba's communist regime looks like it's ready to fall on its own. Meanwhile, ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro is set to appear in a federal court in New York later today to face narco-terrorism charges. his wife will also appear. The pair were captured by the U.S. in a surprise raid over the weekend. Here's legal reporter Jack Queen on what to expect in court. Well, there's still a lot of uncertainty around that.

The biggest question is whether or not Maduro and his wife will have lawyers for this hearing. Now, even if they haven't obtained their own lawyers, a court-appointed public defender essentially would be there for them. But if they don't have their own lawyers yet, they're very unlikely to enter a plea in the case. So what would probably happen then is that the judge would go through some housekeeping things, advise them of their rights under the law. They would discuss the conditions of pretrial detention.

Obviously, Mr. Maduro and his wife are going to remain jailed until the trial happens. What are the charges that they're facing? So Maduro faces four criminal counts. There's narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. his wife faces the same charges with the exception of narco-terrorism. Bringing Maduro to trial could take months, and it turns out the operation to capture him was months in the making, too.

It's just one of the details Reuters has learned of exactly how the brazen U.S. capture of Nicholas Maduro was planned and executed. Foreign policy reporter Idris Ali has more. The CIA had installed a team going back several weeks and potentially months into Venezuela, and their job was to track and figure a life of pattern out of Nicholas Maduro. What routes did he take? What time did he enter a building? What time did he exit a building? We have also heard that the CIA had an agent or an asset quite close to Maduro in his inner circle who could give details.

And what actually happened when troops reached Maduro? You know, it's almost like it was out of a movie the way it's been described to us. So you essentially had these Delta Force soldiers, really the elite part of the U.S. military, going into Venezuela aboard helicopters, flying really low. They got out of their helicopters. They did receive some incoming fire. But when they entered the compound or the safe house, we have learned that Nicholas Maduro and his wife were trying to flee to a safe room, which was reinforced with steel, they were able to make it close to it, but they were not able to close the door.

It's also been learned since then from Venezuela and defense ministry that during that sort of engagement and, you know, nabbing a number of Maduro's bodyguards and security personnel were killed. As well as the security personnel, Cuba says 32 of its citizens who were working for Venezuela's armed forces were also killed in the operation. But when Maduro and his wife realized, they were unable to reach that safe room. Did they surrender? For ours, I think they did surrender. I think it's important to also mention that these troops were heavily armed.

They even had blow torches with them. So the steel reinforced safe room that they would have been in probably would have been able to be opened up pretty soon with those blow torches. The Delta Force soldiers actually had built a replica of the safe house. So they knew probably every nook and cranny of where Maduro could or could not hide. One of the big questions being asked now is, was the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the removal of its president legal? The United Nations Security Council plans to meet later today to discuss the attack. Tom Hals is Reuters' legal correspondent.

Under an international law, one country cannot use force against another country except in pretty limited circumstances. And that would be when they have authorization from the U.S. Security Council or when they are using force in some of the U.S. self-defense. So to attack Venezuela and grab Maduro probably would be outside international law, according to most people who are looking at this. There's also the question of U.S. domestic law, and in the United States, past administrations have come to the conclusion that they had the authority to grab people like Maduro overseas. In other words, that U.S. law sort of superseded international law when there was an indictment of somebody. And it's been applied, well, Manuel Noriega is probably the best example in Panama. But it's been applied in other situations

as well to arrest people who are involved in like terrorism acts or attacks on military. US actions in Venezuela have potentially major implications for oil markets. Reuters Open Interest Energy columnist Ron Bousseau is today's guest on our sister Markets Podcast Morningbid. Ron, U.S. oil refiners could see an immediate boost from what's happened, right? Yes, absolutely. Once the U.S. restrictions and sanctions on Venezuela are lifted, we can expect the grand rerouting of the Venezuelan oil from China towards the United States, where Gulf Coast refineries have historically processed a lot of crude similar to the Venezuelan Great. Thanks, Ron. You can listen to Morning Bid wherever you get your podcasts.

The U.S. raid to capture President Maduro is continuing to send shockwaves around the world. In Barcelona, hundreds of Venezuelan expats celebrate in the streets. And in Mexico, too, where Yulema Marco says her family, who remains in Venezuela, will finally be free. More than 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 20. 2018. Reporter Alexander Villegas in Santiago, Chile, explains the environment they left. It's been one of hyperinflation, it's been one of economic hardship, and it's been one of absolute interl repression that's gotten worse over the years that's caused, not just people looking for work, but also any political opponent from Maluro to flee the country. And since then,

pretty much any opposition to Maluro from within Venezuela has been incredibly. difficult or almost impossible. There have been demonstrations in support of Maduro since his capture, including this one in Caracas. And Alexander says that's at least partly because of the long history of U.S. involvement in the region. Most of the later 20th century relationships between the United States and Latin America has been one of interventionism.

So what's interesting is not only is that bringing kind of old wounds, but we've had this kind of political shift in Latin America in the last few years. where a lot of right-wing presidents have been elected in recent years, and a lot of people have been apologetic or supportive of previous dictatorships or previous strongmen who were supported by the United States. Away from Venezuela now, and the leaders of Denmark and Greenland have urged Donald Trump to stop threatening to take over Greenland. Trump told the Atlantic magazine at the weekend that, quote,

We do need Greenland absolutely. We need it for defrauded. In Iran, rights groups say at least 16 people have been killed during a week of unrest as protests continue over soaring inflation. And China and South Korea have announced a series of trade deals during a state visit by South Korean President Li Jiameng in Beijing. For more on all of those stories and updates on Venezuela, head to Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. listening on a smart speaker. Just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.