US Southern Command chief meets Venezuela’s president weeks after Maduro’s capture

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The head of U.S. military operations in Latin America met with Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, and members of her cabinet during an hourslong visit Wednesday to the South American country’s capital.

Rodríguez’s government and U.S. Southern Command announced the visit separately on social media. Rodríguez’s press office said Marine Gen. Francis Donovan met with Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

The meeting comes weeks after the U.S. military captured then-President Nicolás Maduro in a stunning raid in Caracas and brought him to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges.

“During this meeting, both countries agreed to work on developing a bilateral cooperation agenda to combat illicit drug trafficking in our region, terrorism, and migration,” according to a post on X from Rodríguez’s press office. “The meeting reaffirms that diplomacy should be the mechanism for resolving differences and addressing issues of binational and regional interest, of interest to all parties.”

Donovan was joined by Laura Dogu, the top U.S. diplomat in Venezuela, and Joseph Humire, U.S. acting assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and the Americas.

A readout of the meeting from U.S. Southern Command said the discussions focused on security in Venezuela and the Western Hemisphere as well as the “steps to ensure the implementation” of U.S. President Donald Trump’s phased plan for the country.

It is the latest visit to Venezuela by top U.S. officials. CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Rodríguez just two weeks after Maduro’s ouster, while U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright met her last week while doing a firsthand assessment of the country’s oil industry.