Breaking News:US-Venezuela tension LIVE | Maria Machado rejects Rodriguez as interim president, Maduro’s son backs father’s deputy– What Just Happened

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said that ‘believing’ innocent Colombian people should die if Donald Trump’s threats to the country become reality was ‘simply treason against the Homeland’.

“If you believe that an innocent Colombian woman, elderly Venezuelan women and young soldiers who were fulfilling their duty should have died, then you will think the same about the Colombian people if Trump’s threat becomes a reality. That is simply treason against the Homeland,” Petro said on X, while accusing the US of colonialist ambitions.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the legality of the operation in Venezuela and the lack of prior notice to Congress, which constitutionally has the authority to declare war.

“We are not at war. We do not have US armed forces in Venezuela, and we are not occupying that country,” Johnson said.

“We don’t expect troops on the ground. We don’t expect direct involvement in any other way, beyond just coercing the new – the interim – government.”

The United Nations rights office has voiced deep concern over the dramatic US operation in Venezuela, warning that it clearly “undermined a fundamental principle of international law”.

“States must not threaten or use force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the office, told reporters in Geneva.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday that Venezuela should hold elections soon, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called voting premature following the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro.

Speaking to reporters after a briefing with lawmakers from Rubio and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, Johnson added that he did not expect the United States to send troops to Venezuela, a possibility that Trump had refused to rule out publicly.

“I expect that there will be an election called in Venezuela,” said Johnson, the top member of Trump’s Republican Party in Congress.

“Some of these things are still being determined, of course, but it should happen in short order. And I think it will need to be, so that their economy can remain stabilised and the country can remain stabilised,” he said.

Nicolás Maduro’s son said he would “unconditionally support” Delcy Rodríguez, who has been declared acting president of Venezuela after his father was captured by the US and flown out of the country.

Nicolás Maduro Guerra’s comments mark his first public backing of Rodríguez, whom President Donald Trump has said would work with Washington to “make Venezuela great again.” Maduro Guerra spoke during the installation of Venezuela’s National Assembly in Caracas on Monday.

“To you, Delcy, my unconditional support. Count on me and my family,” Maduro Guerra said, after tearfully describing what he called difficult hours for his family.

Colombia is bracing for a potential refugee crisis following US strikes in Venezuela and the political turmoil resulting in the removal of Nicolas Maduro.

Colombian Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Sunday that he was deploying 30,000 soldiers to the border with Venezuela to bolster security, and the country has also implemented emergency measures to support refugees.

China’s Foreign Ministry has reiterated its stance on US action in Venezuela, saying it is willing to work with other countries to safeguard the authority of international law.

“We stand ready to work with regional countries to defend the status of peace in Latin America and the Caribbean,” the ministry said.

(Al Jazeera)

According to a CNN report, discussions between paramilitary groups linked to Nicolas Maduro indicate the gunfire was related to confusion between different security groups operating near the Miraflores presidential palace. A member of one of these groups can be heard calling for backup and that “several shots were heard.” Later, the speaker said that a drone flying in the area was fired upon by members of the Miraflores Police and palace security.

The next hearing is scheduled for March 17, CNN reported. Neither Nicolas Maduro nor his wife Cilia Flores are immediately seeking bail or release.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has condemned US action in Venezuela. Taking to X on Tuesday, the UN official wrote – “The U.S. military operation in Venezuela undermines a fundamental principle of international law: States must not use force to pursue their territorial claims or political demands.”

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Venezuela’s parliament swore in Delcy Rodriguez as interim president on Monday, two days after US forces detained her predecessor Nicolas Maduro to face trial in New York.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court had on Saturday directed Delcy Rodriguez to take over the presidency “in an acting capacity”.

Rodriguez served as Venezuela’s minister of communication and information from 2013 to 2014. She later held the post of foreign minister from 2014 to 2017.

In August 2024, Maduro assigned the oil ministry to Rodriguez, placing her in charge of handling increasing US sanctions on Venezuela’s key industry, Reuters reported. She has also served as the country’s chief economic authority. Read more here.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Former Tamil Nadu CPI State Secretary Muthuarasan led the protest, which was held near Kamarajar Arangam on Anna Salai, where CPI staging a protest near the US Consulate General in Chennai against the United States over its actions on Venezuela.

The protesters raised slogans accusing the US government of violating international law and undermining the sovereignty of Venezuela. They also condemned what they described as attempts to arrest the President of Venezuela.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: A woman left disfigured when Venezuelan military forces tossed boiling water on her at an anti-government protest in Caracas in 2021 has urged a Manhattan federal judge Monday to lock up dictator Nicolás Maduro for as long as possible.

The woman, who said she immigrated to the US from Caracas shortly after she was injured, was among scores of demonstrators who gathered outside court as Maduro pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges.

“I’m here today asking for his sentence to be as long as possible — the maximum,” said the woman, who now works at a community center in New Rochelle, told The New York Post. Read more here

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: As US threatened Maduro’s grip on power in recent months, a cadre of executives, lawyers and investors tied to the oil industry made their case to anyone who would listen — the Trump administration, congressional aides: His familiar No. 2 Delcy Rodríguez should fill his shoes in Venezuela.

An oil minister herself, Rodríguez has long been the go-to contact for senior executives, whom she impressed by navigating Venezuela‘s industry through international sanctions, economic pressures and internal mismanagement.

As per reported by Bloomberg, President Donald Trump’s inner circle came to the conclusion that Rodriguez would be best positioned to shepherd through the US plan to restore Venezuela to its glory days as an oil gusher, argued executives and lobbyists.

Bloomberg further added that both groups believed that the vice president, long seen as a bridge between the government and private sector, could stabilize Venezuela’s oil-based economy and facilitate American business faster than leading dissident María Corina Machado could, said the people.

US-Venezeula tension LIVE: Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in a New York court Monday, two days after he was captured by US forces in a stunning raid on his home in Caracas.

Maduro, 63, told a federal judge in Manhattan “I’m innocent. I’m not guilty.”

Smiling as he entered the courtroom and wearing an orange shirt with beige trousers, Maduro spoke softly.

“I’m president of the Republic of Venezuela and I’m here kidnapped since January 3, Saturday,” Maduro told the court, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela, he added.

Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores also pleaded not guilty. The judge ordered both to remain behind bars and set a new hearing date of March 17.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: More than a dozen media workers were detained on Monday while reporting from Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. They were covering events that included a march backing ousted President Nicolas Maduro and the swearing-in of the country’s new legislature, the nation’s press association said.

The press association, SNTP, said on X that all 14 people held were later released. It added that one of those detained was a foreign journalist who was deported.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: US President Donald Trump has no plans to occupy Venezuela or aim for nation-building there, Republican US lawmakers said on Monday.

“We do not have U.S. armed forces in Venezuela, and we are not occupying that country,” Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana told reporters after the classified session with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other senior officials.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Sri Lanka has called on the United Nations to pursue a peaceful solution after the US military raid, while keeping in mind the safety, welfare and sovereign rights of the people of Venezuela.

In a statement issued by the country’s ministry of foreign affairs on Monday, it said that “it is important that the United Nations and its organs such as the UN Security Council be seized of the matter and work towards a peaceful resolution taking into consideration the safety, well-being and the sovereign rights of the Venezuelan people”.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: After its ‘military operation’ in Venezuela, US president Donald Trump has listed more nations where he believes US intervention is necessary.

Among these is Greenland, the autonomous territory of Denmark, known for its rare earth minerals. Since assuming office, Trump has hinted time and again of a possible US takeover.

However, it her latest warning, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Monday an American takeover of Greenland would amount to the end of the NATO military alliance.

“If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2 on Monday. “That is, including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.”

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Maria Machado has openly rejected the country’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez, saying she “is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narcotrafficking.”

“In free and fair elections, we will win by over 90 percent of the votes, I have no doubt about it,” Machado told FOX news.

Machado also vowed to “turn Venezuela into the energy hub of the Americas” and “dismantle all these criminal structures” that have harmed her countrymen, promising to “bring millions of Venezuelans that have been forced to flee our country back home.”

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has vowed to return home ‘as soon as possible’.

Machado has been in hiding since due to the threat to her life since the 2024 elections in Venezuela.

In 2025, Machado was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.”

However, following Maduro’s capture, Machado was not endorsed as the presidential candidate by Donald Trump. Based on a Washington Post report, Machado’s acceptance of the peace prize which was eyed by Trump, was considered the “ultimate sin”, despite the Venezuelan leader dedicating her win to POTUS.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Monday that she has not spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump since October 2025.

While speaking on Fox News’ “Hannity”, Machado’s remarks come after the United States’ strikes on Venezuela on Saturday which resulted in the capture of its president Nicolas Maduro.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Top officials from Donald Trump’s administration have briefed congressional leaders on the US . government’s plans for the future of Venezuela in a Monday evening meeting on Capitol Hill.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials discussed Venezuela with House and Senate leadership, as well as top members of the intelligence committees and national security committees.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said after receiving the briefing he does not expect the United States to deploy troops to Venezuela, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the session “posed far more questions than it answered.”

“I think those are all questions I think will be more sufficiently answered,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., about whether the Trump administration gave a timeline for reaching operational control of Venezuela.

(With inputs from AP)

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: After the US military’s intervention in Venezuela, the Mexican government have discounted the likelihood of unilateral military action against Mexican drug cartels, despite threats from Donald Trump.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration has been complying with Washington’s demands and the economic ties between the two countries are vital, people familiar with the matter told AP.

Sheinbaum has downplayed the possibility of American military action on Monday.

“I don’t see risks (of that),” she said. “There is coordination, there is collaboration with the United States government.”

“I don’t believe in (the possibility of) invasion, I don’t believe even that it’s something they are taking seriously. Organized crime is not taken care with (foreign military) intervention,” she added further.

US-Venezuela tension LIVE: Shots were fired late Monday near Venezuela’s presidential palace, witnesses and a source close to the government told news agency AFP.

While the government has added that the situation was under control, the report stated that unidentified drones flew over the Miraflores palace in central Caracas and security forces opened fire in response around 8:00 pm (0000 GMT).

Meanwhile, in the US, Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have both pled not guilty to the charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.