'Enough of Washington's orders': Venezuela’s interim president Rodríguez pushes back against US pressure

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, has said that she has had “enough” of US orders, weeks after she said Caracas would “cooperate” with President Donald Trump following Nicolas Maduro’s capture.

Rodríguez has been playing a balancing act in ensuring that Maduro’s loyalists are on board in Venezuela while keeping the White House happy as Trump backs her in leading the nation for the time being.

“Enough already of Washington’s orders over politicians in Venezuela,” she told a group of oil workers in Puerto La Cruz city.

“Let Venezuelan politics resolve our differences and our internal conflicts. This Republic has paid a very high price for having to confront the consequences of fascism and extremism in our country,” she added.

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The US has been calling many shots in Venezuela’s internal matters, especially the ones related to its oil reserves, since its army captured Maduro and his wife earlier this month. While Rodriguez has maintained that the country is “not ruled by the US”, she has not actively confronted Washington.

Venezuela releases political prisoner

Venezuela’s interim government said Monday it had freed more than 800 political prisoners since before last December, but rights NGO Foro Penal cast doubt on the figure.

Progress had been slow until Saturday, when a sudden flurry of 100 prisoners were freed.

Dozens of relatives remain in makeshift camps outside prisons, however, waiting for their loved ones to walk free.

“As of today, before December and now, there have been 808 releases,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, widely seen as a wielder of power behind the scenes, said on state TV.

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The exact period he was referring to was unclear.

On Friday, Rodriguez spoke of 626 releases since December in a process she insists was initiated by Maduro himself.

The Foro Penal, which advocates for inmates in Venezuela, said it had verified 383 releases since December, including several foreigners.

Since January 8, when a large-scale release of all political inmates was announced, the number was 266, it said.

“It doesn’t match any of the figures” Foro Penal has been tracking, the NGO’s vice president, Gonzalo Himiob, told AFP of the government’s numbers.

With inputs from agencies