Venezuela eyes 'new agenda' with EU, UK

CARACAS

Relatives of political prisoners pray during a candle vigil outside El Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Miranda State, some 30 kilometers east of Caracas on Jan. 12, 2026.

Venezuela's interim government said Monday it was ready to pursue a "new agenda" with the European Union and Britain following talks with their envoys after Nicolas Maduro was ousted as president.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil called for "opening channels of dialogue" with the EU, which did not recognize Maduro as the country's legitimate leader.

The EU imposed sanctions on Maduro's inner circle, openly backed the opposition and urged the inclusion of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in Venezuela's transition.

"We are ready to advance a new, intense work agenda for the wellbeing of...all the people of Europe and of Venezuela," Gil said in a broadcast from the Miraflores presidential palace.

The talks between the European envoys and interim president Delcy Rodriguez alongside her top ministers covered energy, education, science, technology and pharmaceuticals.

Gil described the meeting as "frank, cordial, pleasant."

The meeting came three days after Caracas and Washington said they had taken steps towards restoring their diplomatic ties, severed in 2019.

Formerly Maduro's vice president, Rodriguez took over after a U.S. bombing raid on Caracas on Jan. 3 ended with his capture and transfer to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.

Meanwhile, Washington announced on Jan. 12 Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado will meet Trump this week as pressure grew on the interim leadership in Caracas to speed up the release of political prisoners.

Disregarding Machado and her understudy Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia after Maduro’s capture, Trump has been working instead with Rodriguez.

Trump has warned Rodriguez to toe Washington's line or face the consequences, particularly on granting access to the South American country's vast oil reserves.