Interim President Says Venezuela Heading to 'New Era' After US Aggression and Maduro Kidnapping

JAKARTA - Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, stated that his country is entering a new era characterized by greater tolerance towards political rivals.

At his first press conference since the US aggression and the kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro, then President of Venezuela, Rodriguez is now presenting himself as a unifier.

"Venezuela is opening itself up to a new political era," said Rodriguez, who was vice president when Maduro took power at the presidential palace, Wednesday local time, quoted by AFP.

The new Venezuela, he said, "makes it possible to understand despite differences and through ideological and political diversity."

US President Donald Trump is known to have let Rodriguez become the interim president of Venezuela as long as the US had access to Venezuelan oil.

By doing so, Trump ruled out the leader of the anti-Maduro opposition, the controversial Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Corina Machado. Trump claimed that Machado did not have enough "respect" in Venezuela.

Machado will meet Trump on Thursday local time at the White House to press his demands for a democratic transition that includes him and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, his candidate in the 2024 presidential and vice presidential elections that his government says has been stolen by Maduro.

So far, Trump has only focused on securing access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves.