Venezuela abandons Nicolás Maduro to fate in US jail

Venezuela’s government made no mention of freeing jailed ex-president Nicolás Maduro during nearly two weeks of talks with the opposition this month, in the clearest sign yet that the regime has abandoned him to the US justice system.

Interim president Delcy Rodríguez in January called the US capture and exfiltration of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores a case of “vile aggression”. Her brother, leader of Venezuela’s parliament, said they “will not rest” until he is released from a Brooklyn jail cell, where he faces drug-trafficking charges.

But Rodríguez’s US-backed government surprised the opposition by not even raising those demands during the five negotiating sessions, which concluded last week, several people present told the FT.

“Maduro and Flores simply do not exist at the negotiating table,” said one opposition figure. “They have erased them from history.”

The US government has backed Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice-president, since its commandos snatched the autocratic leader in a brazen night-time raid on January 3. In return, she has opened up the country’s vast natural resources to overseas investors, giving US companies access to its oil reserves.

The first round of negotiations with the opposition was intended to agree on steps for a new presidential election but yielded few concrete results.

The two sides focused on how to fund the recovery from June’s devastating earthquakes, demanding the repatriation of some $4bn of gold bullion stored in Bank of England vaults. They also agreed to start working to reform the justice system.

After the talks concluded, the government said it had released 131 political prisoners, though rights group Foro Penal said they could only verify that at least 78 had been freed.

But such a fate did not seem to be on the cards for Maduro, whom life-long revolutionary socialist Rodríguez once called Venezuela’s “one and only” president, analysts said.

As far as the government is concerned, “his fate is already sealed”, said Edward Rodríguez, a Venezuelan analyst and consultant. “They’ll let the case run its course while they focus on their only priority: survival.”

Rodríguez was initially forthright in demanding Maduro’s release straight after his capture as she consolidated the support of hardliners in the security services. But she has since replaced top military leaders with her own supporters, while powerful security chief Diosdado Cabello has also abruptly drawn closer to Washington.

Signs and billboards calling for the pair’s release were erected in cities across Venezuela in January; many have since been taken down. Pro-Maduro murals painted before his arrest have been scrubbed over. Just a handful of oversized portraits of the deposed first couple remain in Caracas.

Rodríguez, whose succinct public speeches mark a break with Maduro’s folksy and fiery diatribes, seldom mentions her old boss during public appearances — including in her speech after the talks ended.

But Maduro, the handpicked heir to the revolutionary socialist project of the late president Hugo Chávez, continues to inspire support from hardcore Chavistas, as supporters of the movement are known.

“I disagree with these talks, because Trump cannot be allowed to keep imposing things on us while the agreement does not even mention the president who was kidnapped,” said Ricardo García, a grassroots Chavista who, like many loyalists, believes Maduro was betrayed by members of his inner circle and handed over to US forces.

The negotiations have also been controversial among the opposition, including for sidelining its most popular leader, Nobel laureate María Corina Machado.

The Venezuelan government did not respond to a request for comment.