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Venezuela’s Rodriguez vows release of more prisoners, holds call with Trump

Venezuela’s Rodriguez vows release of more prisoners, holds call with Trump

Trump showers acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez with praise after first phone call since the US military’s abduction of President Nicolas Maduro. Published On 15 Jan 202615 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez has pledged to continue releasing prisoners detained under the presidency of Nicolas Maduro and described her first phone call with United States President Donald Trump since Maduro’s abduction by US forces as positive. Rodriguez, Maduro’s former vice ‌president, said on Wednesday that she ⁠had a long, ​productive and courteous ‍phone call with the US president, in ⁠which the two discussed a bilateral agenda that would benefit both countries. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, said the two discussed oil, minerals, trade and national security, describing how “this partnership” between the US and Venezuela would be “spectacular”. “I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela,” Trump said at the White House after the lengthy call, describing Rodriguez as a “terrific person”, adding that US Secretary of State ‍Marco Rubio had also been in touch with the acting president. Trump’s praise of Rodriguez follows after President Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, were abducted by the US military in an attack on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on January 3. Maduro and Flores are now being held in prison in the US. Trump said last week that a second ⁠wave of US attacks on Venezuela had been cancelled amid “cooperation” from leaders in Caracas, including the release of a large ‍number of prisoners as a sign of “seeking peace” with Washington. Earlier on Wednesday, during her first media briefing since Maduro’s abduction, Rodriguez said Venezuela was entering a “new political moment” and the process of releasing detainees “has not yet concluded”. Advertisement “This opportunity is for Venezuela and for the people of Venezuela to be able to see reflected a new moment where coexistence, where living together, where recognition of the other allows building and erecting a new spirituality,” Rodriguez said in her address. Flanked by her brother and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, the acting president also pledged “strict” enforcement of the law and credited Maduro with already initiating the release of prisoners. “Messages of hatred, intolerance, acts of violence will not be permitted,” Rodriguez said. The renewed promise to continue freeing prisoners followed after Jorge Rodriguez announced in parliament on Tuesday that more than 400 detainees had been freed recently. While Venezuelan authorities deny that they hold political prisoners, the release of people held for political reasons in Venezuela has been a long-running call of rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures. Rights groups in recent days have criticised the slow release of prisoners by the post-Maduro leadership. Trump is scheduled to meet on Thursday with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at the White House, their first in-person meeting since the abduction of Maduro. Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, has offered to give Trump her prize, ‌but the Nobel Committee said the Peace Prize cannot be transferred. Adblock test (Why?)

Mamdani housing czar called ‘White, middle-class homeowners’ a ‘huge problem’ during 2021 podcast appearance

Mamdani housing czar called ‘White, middle-class homeowners’ a ‘huge problem’ during 2021 podcast appearance

The housing official appointed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to lead New York City’s newly revived Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants previously said, “White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for a renter justice movement” and argued organizers must “undermine the institution of homeownership,” during a 2021 podcast appearance. Cea Weaver, who was named director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants on Jan. 1 through an executive order signed by Mamdani, made the remarks during a September 2021 episode of the “Bad Faith podcast” while discussing eviction policy and renter organizing strategies. The comments have drawn renewed attention as Weaver now holds formal executive authority over tenant policy and enforcement in New York City.  Her appointment was announced on Mamdani’s first day in office as part of a slate of executive actions reviving the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, according to City Hall. NYC DEM REVEALS HOW CITY COUNCIL REJECTED CEA WEAVER—NOW MAMDANI IS HANDING HER POWER WITHOUT CONFIRMATION During the podcast, Weaver argued that resistance to progressive reform often comes not from large corporate landlords but instead from homeowners. “I think the reality is that a lot of the people who are pushing back on the eviction moratorium and more rental assistance are not corporate landlords,” Weaver said. “They are homeowners who feel as though an eviction moratorium is an attack on their rights as a property owner.” She added that this opposition presents a challenge for housing organizers, saying “White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for the renter justice movement.” MAMDANI SAYS HE ‘OBVIOUSLY’ DISAGREES WITH AIDE’S OLD VIEWS LINKING HOMEOWNERSHIP TO WHITE SUPREMACY Later in the conversation, Weaver said homeownership has become the primary source of stability in the U.S. because of gaps in social programs, but argued that structure itself poses an obstacle to housing activism. “Unless we can undermine the institution of homeownership and seek to provide stability in other ways, it’s a really difficult organizing situation we find ourselves in,” she said. Weaver framed evictions as a matter of power rather than economics, saying landlords resist the idea that tenants could remain in properties they “consider themselves to own.” In the same podcast, Weaver endorsed policies including universal rent control, the right to form tenant unions, blocking evictions, and funding rental assistance through higher taxes on the wealthy. She also argued that broader government programs could “chip away at homeownership” by providing stability through other means. Weaver has also drawn scrutiny for past social media posts criticizing white homeownership. In an August 2019 post on X which was later deleted but resurfaced by Fox News Digital, Weaver wrote that “private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy.” On her first day in office, Weaver joined Mamdani in announcing city intervention in the bankruptcy proceedings of Pinnacle Group, a landlord tied to housing violations and complaints, according to City Hall. Fox News Digital contacted the mayor’s press office with questions about whether Mamdani stands by Weaver’s 2021 remarks but did not receive a response by publication. Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.