Venezuelan Foreign Minister Demands Immediate Release of Former President Maduro Held by US Forces

Kathmandu. Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto on Monday demanded the immediate release of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is currently under US control following an American attack.

Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Gil demanded that the United States government immediately release Nicolas Maduro Moros, the then constitutional president of Venezuela, and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela autocratically since March 2013 and was captured by US forces about two months ago, is in US custody along with his wife.

Following the action by US security forces, the deposed 63-year-old Maduro claimed he was not guilty of drug trafficking and asserted he is a prisoner of war.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister told the UN Human Rights Council, "Venezuela has entered a phase of extreme seriousness since January 3, 2026."

Gil stated, "More than 100 people have died due to illegal military action against our country, and Maduro and his wife are being arbitrarily detained."

"Despite the profound technical and military disparity between our country and the nuclear-armed United States, following the attack on Caracas and the subsequent control of the Venezuelan president, we have decided to open diplomatic channels to resolve our differences with that country," said Foreign Minister Gil.

He added, "The only civilized and just path between nations is dialogue, not through submission, but through the sovereign equality of states, and not through fear, but through trust."

Goal of Reconciliation

Gil stated that Venezuela is emphasizing the need for 'international cooperation based on the legal equality of states.'

The top Venezuelan diplomat stressed that his country is working on a 'process of accepting past wounds, forgiveness, and reconciliation.'

Venezuela's legislature unanimously passed a historic amnesty law last Thursday, which interim leader Delcy Rodriguez praised as a pioneering step towards a 'more democratic, fair, free Venezuela.'

Opposition leaders have criticized the new law, which appears to slightly relax the law for some crimes previously used by authorities to target Maduro's political opponents.

This law is clearly intended to 'incentivize' or 'facilitate' those prosecuted following armed or forceful actions against Venezuela's sovereignty by foreign actors, but it is not possible to enforce this for a sovereign country.

Rodriguez, who has been Maduro's Vice President since 2018, hinted towards opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who hopes to return from the US, saying, "The law also does not include members of the security forces convicted of activities related to 'terrorism'."

The amnesty law will apply to 11,000 political prisoners who have been under house arrest or in various forms of detention for more than three decades.