(Adnkronos) – The deposal of leftist president Nicolas Maduro during a US attack on 3 January and his deputy Delsy Rodriguez’s appointment as interim leader offers the country and the whole of Latin America “an historic opportunity”, according to Italy’s top diplomat.
“Maduro’s fall is a historic opportunity for Venezuela and for all of Latin America,” foreign minister Antonio Tajani told the Senate upper house of parliament on Tuesday.
“Since the beginning of my term of office, I have placed this region at the heart of Italian foreign policy,” Tajani said.
“If the change currently underway continues, as early signs suggest, it is a major step forward for the freedom of a people and a country so closely linked to Italy, starting with its very name,” Tajani said.
Maduro was seized with his wife Cilia Flores by elite US troops in a raid on his fortified compound in central Caracas during an overnight operation that targeted several key military sites and was flown to New York.
Maduro and Flores have gone on trial in New York for drug trafficking, narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possessing machine-guns and destructive devices.
Maduro was re-elected Venezuela’s president in contested July 2024 elections.
