Top Venezuelan leaders had 15 minutes to agree to US demands or face death, leaked recording claims

CARACAS, VENEZUELA: A leaked recording has offered a rare glimpse into the internal turmoil gripping Venezuela’s interim leadership in the aftermath of Nicolas Maduro’s dramatic capture, revealing claims that top officials were given just 15 minutes to cooperate with the United States or be killed.

The recording, which surfaced roughly a week after Maduro was captured on January 3, was first reported by The Guardian and Venezuelan outlet Cazadores de Fake News. It captures a closed-door meeting between senior government officials and pro-government influencers as they sought to steady the regime and shape the narrative following the collapse of Maduro’s rule.

Delcy Rodriguez describes alleged US threats after Maduro capture

In the leaked recording, interim leader Delcy Rodriguez recounts what she describes as immediate and extreme pressure from US forces following Maduro’s detention.

“The threats began from the very first minute they kidnapped the president,” Rodriguez says in the recording. “They gave Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister], Jorge [Rodriguez, the acting president's brother and congressional president,] and me 15 minutes to respond, or they would kill us.”

Rodriguez adds that the pressure did not subside after the initial confrontation.

“The threats and the blackmail are constant,” she says, warning colleagues that Venezuela’s leadership must proceed carefully.

Chavista leadership urges unity and strategic patience

Throughout the recording, Rodriguez emphasizes the need for restraint and internal discipline as the interim government navigates a fragile political moment.

“We have to proceed with patience and strategic prudence, with very clear objectives, brothers and sisters,” she says, before outlining three priorities: “to preserve peace … to rescue our hostages … and to preserve political power.”

The meeting reveals a leadership deeply concerned with maintaining cohesion while managing public perception. Rodriguez explicitly calls for unity among party figures, saying, “the only thing I would ask for is unity.”

Then-communications minister Freddy Nanez echoes that sentiment, urging an end to internal dissent. He calls for shutting down “gossip, rumors, intrigues and attempts at discrediting” Rodriguez’s leadership at a moment when fractures could prove fatal.

Recording sheds light on post-Maduro narrative control

Analysts say the audio provides an unusually candid look at how Venezuela’s interim leadership has attempted to project resistance at home while quietly preparing for engagement with Washington.

Rodriguez has not publicly repeated the claim that US forces threatened to kill senior officials, and neither the Venezuelan nor US governments have commented on the authenticity or contents of the leaked recording.

Despite the incendiary allegations, Washington confirmed this week that Rodriguez has been invited to visit the United States, though no date has been announced.

“We are in a process of dialogue, of working with the United States,” Rodriguez said Wednesday, signaling a notable shift in tone from the defiant posture captured in the leaked audio.

Cooperation with Washington reportedly discussed before Maduro’s fall

A separate Guardian report published Thursday suggests that lines of communication between Caracas and Washington had been quietly established well before Maduro’s capture.

According to the report, Rodriguez and her brother had privately signaled to US intermediaries that they were willing to cooperate with Washington if Maduro were removed from power, though they did not directly assist in his overthrow.

Communications reportedly began months earlier through Qatari intermediaries, positioning Rodriguez as a potential bridge between the two governments once Maduro was out of the picture.

US officials have described Rodriguez as a pragmatic interlocutor, and President Donald Trump has publicly said the two governments are “getting along very well.”

Leaked audio highlights balancing act facing interim government

Political analysts say the leaked recording underscores the tightrope Venezuela’s interim leadership is walking: resisting accusations of capitulation domestically while maintaining dialogue with the United States to stabilize the post-Maduro political landscape.

The recording suggests leaders are acutely aware that any perception of surrender could fracture their base, even as international engagement appears increasingly unavoidable.