Nicolás Maduro Guerra, the son of the Venezuelan former leader, Nicolás Maduro, who is currently detained in the United States, recently expressed concerns about his father’s health. Speaking to Spiegel, Guerra noted that his father had always maintained a very healthy diet, rich in vegetables and low in sugar, but observed that lately, “he is consuming mainly carbohydrates, highly processed foods, and too much salt”.
Maduro himself was detained and taken out of the country during a highly publicized military operation involving U.S. elite soldiers on the night of January 3rd. The attack in the capital, Caracas, caught the Venezuelan leadership by surprise. Guerra recounted that he had expected such an assault to occur elsewhere, intended to open a space for negotiations. He admitted that they had underestimated the technical capabilities of the Americans. “Even if we knew we wouldn’t have authority over the airspace during an attack, it is not the same as experiencing it” he stated. “We should have done more to protect my father. In that regard, we failed”.
Guerra added that his father likely expected to die during that night. Maduro had left an un-sent audio message on his phone to his son, which spoke of “bombs falling, that the Venezuelan people must continue to fight, that our homeland will never be a colony”. He described it as a “farewell message”.
Since Maduro’s arrest, his long-time deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, has been managing affairs in the Venezuelan capital. Regarding the reforms that Rodríguez has initiated, particularly within the oil and mining sectors, Guerra spoke of a “new Venezuela that is opening itself to the world”. He characterized the current period as a “new moment focused on dialogue and reconciliation”. He emphasized that Venezuela had been trapped in conflicts that led nowhere, asserting that “we need a path that leads to prosperity and peace”.
Finally, when addressing the recent past, Maduro acknowledged that there had indeed been “tough times” admitting to “errors we made, excess for which we must apologize as Chavismo. The responsibility of making the first step lies with us”.
