US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had a “long phone call” with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez, marking the first known contact between the two leaders since the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a US military operation. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump called the conversation “great.” “We just had a great conversation today and she’s a great person,” he said. “We had a phone call – a long phone call. We discussed a lot of things and I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump added, as quoted by AFP.Rodríguez later also confirmed the call, calling it “productive and polite,” AFP reported, citing a Telegram post.Regarding Venezuela, Trump also said that one person was arrested for revealing details of the operation. “The leaker about President Trump’s operations in Venezuela has been jailed and more leakers are being hunted,” he said.“The leaker was found and is NOW in prison. The leaker about Venezuela. A very bad leaker.” Trump also said, adding: “Will probably be in prison for a long time.”The U.S. military launched a rapid nighttime military operation against Venezuela on Jan. 3, capturing Maduro and his wife, after months of U.S. allegations that his government was involved in drug terrorism. The attack was part of a larger U.S. campaign of airstrikes and raids on targets linked to drug trafficking and culminated in the removal of Maduro and his transfer to U.S. custody.The operation followed previous U.S. actions on suspected drug boats and facilities in the Caribbean, including reported attacks on ships and targets this week. Maduro has long denied leading a drug cartel and has accused the United States of using the “war on drugs” as a pretext to oust him from power and gain influence over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Despite years of coups, mass protests, army uprisings and harsh economic sanctions, Maduro remained in power until US intervention.
