The Daily Journal — Acting President Delcy Rodríguez defended the normalization of diplomatic channels with the United States government on Monday during the closing session of the international symposium “The Homeland Is America,” held as part of the bicentennial commemoration of the Amphictyonic Congress of Panama.
“International guests have arrived in a Venezuela that we could not have imagined in 2025,” Rodríguez said, referring to the military operation that Washington carried out in Caracas earlier this year and that ended with the detention of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who currently face narcoterrorism charges in New York.
“January 3, 2026 marked a turning point in national politics and in our vision of international relations,” the acting president stated.
Rodríguez defended the decision “to resume the diplomatic path with the government of the United States.”
“Almost six months have passed, and I feel that it has been the right path,” she told a delegation of international guests.
Maduro’s successor acknowledged that structural tensions between Caracas and Washington still exist, but argued that negotiation has helped safeguard domestic stability.
“It is the right path: to settle disputes, to resolve differences—which do exist—through diplomatic channels and to guarantee Venezuela’s tranquility, peace, sovereignty, and independence.”
The energy factor: Resources for “social well-being”
Rodríguez reviewed the historical impact of capital accumulation on countries with vast natural resources throughout the region. In that context, she highlighted Venezuela’s role as a global energy power and explained her administration’s objective in reactivating energy partnerships after years of paralysis linked to sanctions.
“Venezuela is an energy power because of its reserves, and we have said that we want to develop that potential so that what lies beneath the ground can translate into social well-being for the Venezuelan people, who have endured more than a decade of economic blockade,” she explained.
Rodríguez added that her administration is “untangling” the critical issues in relations with the White House.
A message to the region: Coexisting with a nuclear power
The acting president also used the event to deliver a message to the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean, urging them to develop a common strategy for engaging with the United States within the hemisphere.
“My message, as acting president, to the countries of our region is that we must find our own path on this continent, in the hemisphere where we live and coexist with a nuclear power, the United States, and determine how, through relationships based on respect (…), we can also bring forward the truth of our peoples,” she emphasized.
