{"id":45903,"date":"2026-01-05T12:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T20:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45903"},"modified":"2026-01-05T12:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T20:31:11","slug":"defying-trump-venezuela-vp-says-we-will-never-again-be-a-colony-of-any-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/01\/05\/defying-trump-venezuela-vp-says-we-will-never-again-be-a-colony-of-any-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Defying Trump, Venezuela VP Says \u2018We Will Never Again Be a Colony of Any Empire\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Venezuelan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks during a presentation in Caracas on December 4, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Pedro Mattey\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is being done to Venezuela is barbaric,\u201d said Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who assumed the role of interim president following the US abduction of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jan 04, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who assumed the role of interim president following the US abduction of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, said in a televised address Saturday that \u201cwe will never again be a colony of any empire,\u201d defying the Trump administration\u2019s plan to indefinitely control<\/a> Venezuela\u2019s government and exploit its vast oil<\/a> reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are determined to be free,\u201d declared Rodr\u00edguez, who demanded that the US release Maduro from custody and said he is still Venezuela\u2019s president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cuban<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Venezuela Assault, Trump and Rubio Warn Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia Could Be Next<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Special<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It\u2019s All About the Oil,\u2019 Says Venezuelan Defense Minister After \u2018Incoherent\u2019 Trump Claims<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is being done to Venezuela<\/a> is barbaric,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s defiant remarks came after US President Donald Trump<\/a> claimed he is \u201cdesignating various people\u201d to run Venezuela\u2019s government, suggested American troops could be deployed, and threatened a \u201csecond wave\u201d of attacks on the country if its political officials don\u2019t bow to the Trump administration\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump also threatened \u201call political and military figures in Venezuela,\u201d warning that \u201cwhat happened to Maduro can happen to them.\u201d Maduro is currently detained in Brooklyn and facing fresh US charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s public remarks contradicted the US president\u2019s claim that she privately pledged compliance with the Trump administration\u2019s attempts to control Venezuela\u2019s political system and oil infrastructure<\/a>. The interim president delivered her remarks alongside top Venezuelan officials, including legislative and judicial leaders, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, a projection of unity in the face of US aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t feel like a nation that is ready to let\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Marco Rubio<\/a>\u00a0\u2018run it,\u2019\u201d\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0US Sen.\u00a0Chris Murphy<\/a>\u00a0(D-Conn.), who condemned the\u00a0Trump administration<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cstarting an illegal war with Venezuela that Americans didn\u2019t ask for and has nothing to do with our security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks during a presentation in Caracas on December 4, 2025. \u00a0(Photo by Pedro Mattey\/AFP via Getty Images) \u201cWhat is being done to Venezuela is barbaric,\u201d said Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who assumed the role of interim president following the US abduction of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Jake Johnson Jan… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45903"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45904,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45903\/revisions\/45904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}