The Latest Breaking News from Jorge Rodríguez

A retired Venezuelan general serving a prison sentence in the United States says interim leader Delcy Rodríguez and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, consolidated power inside Venezuela years before the capture of Nicolás Maduro, acting as what he called "the true architects of the Venezuelan dictatorial regime."

"They gave us 15 minutes to respond, or they would kill us," Venezuela’s then vice-president Delcy Rodríguez told her colleagues seven days after a targeted US military operation captured the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, who had long been in Washington’s sights.

NGOs estimate that there are still close to 1,000 political prisoners in Venezuela despite claims by new leaders

The tanker departed an eastern Venezuela port shortly after the Jan. 3 military operation in Caracas without authorization from port authorities or Petróleos de Venezuela, the state oil company, which said it was never paid for the half-million barrels of crude onboard.

US President Donald Trump has insisted the United States will now be “running” Venezuela after US forces bombed the capital on January 3 and whisked Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife out of the country to face federal charges in New York.

A day after Venezuelan authorities announced the release of a "significant number" of political prisoners, human rights monitors say only eight releases have been confirmed so far.

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he cancelled a previously anticipated second wave of U.S. military attacks on Venezuela after the country's authorities began releasing political prisoners.

Venezuela released a "significant number" of high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists in a gesture to seek peace, just days after the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

It is a “gesture” to keep the peace, according to Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly.