Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, claimed that when former president Nicolas Maduro was abducted, US forces gave the members of his cabinet 15 minutes to decide if they would comply with America's demands "or they would kill us", NDTV World reported.
"The threats began from the very first minute they kidnapped the president. They gave Diosdado [Cabello, the interior minister], Jorge [Rodriguez, the acting president's brother and congressional president,] and me 15 minutes to respond, or they would kill us", she said.
In a leaked video recording of a 2-hour meeting held in Venezuela, seven days after the US attack, Rodriguez can be heard saying that her priority was to "preserve political power". The video that was obtained by the local journalism collective La Hora de Venezuela shows how the remaining members of the regime are trying to reclaim control after the US removed Maduro.
There were reports that Rodriguez and her brother vowed to cooperate with Trump before US kidnapped Maduro. However, the video shows that the remaining members of the government were worried about being branded traitors.
Rodriguez in the recording said that it "hurt ... to have to assume responsibilities in these circumstances".
In fact, she said that US armed forces told them that "[Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores] had been assassinated, not kidnapped". She replied that she, her brother and Cabello "were ready to share the same fate".
MNA
Your Comment