Spanish journalist and philosopher Ignacio Ramonet recounted his recent meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores on Tuesday.
The following is Ramonet’s testimony regarding a conversation that occurred days before the U.S. incursion into Venezuelan territory on January 3, when Delta forces kidnapped Maduro and Flores, resulting in approximately 100 deaths.
It was a month ago. On the night of Jan. 2 to Jan. 3. It was just minutes before 2 a.m. on that sinister Saturday. We were stunned by the brutality of the attack under a full moon. By the violence of the successive explosions. The columns of dark smoke. The intensity of the flames lighting up, here and there, a shaken, sleepless, and silent Caracas. And then, like a punch to the gut, the news of the abduction.
Everything seemed unbelievable to me. Less than two days earlier I had been with President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. For the 10th consecutive time, the president had agreed to grant me the ‘New Year’s interview.’
We recorded it late in the afternoon of Dec. 31, as night began to fall over the beautiful capital of Venezuela and the year 2025 was coming to an end. This time, the president suggested that we do something like a ‘roving interview.’
That is, President Maduro wanted us to hold our conversation aboard his personal vehicle, which he himself drove as we traveled through the lively streets of a city ready to celebrate the arrival of the new year. We were accompanied by Cilia Flores and Communications Minister Freddy Ñañez. No visible security detail, no armed personnel.
I had landed in Caracas a few days earlier amid intense pressure and dangerous threats. The U.S. president had not stopped issuing intimidations against Venezuela’s sovereignty. There were fears the country could be attacked at any moment.
In the months leading up to September 2, 2025, Washington amassed a military force off the Venezuelan coast, the largest since the 1990 Gulf War, and launched attacks against vessels it labeled, without evidence, as “drug boats.”
These illegal actions had been described by international organizations such as the United Nations as ‘extrajudicial executions’ and ‘violations of international law.’ From the standpoint of U.S. domestic law, Congress had not authorized any armed conflict against Venezuela, nor had it even confirmed that a drug trafficking gang could be classified as ‘terrorist.’
Despite these dangers, I encountered a calm city in Caracas. To my surprise, from Altamira Square to the popular markets, everything was quiet, serene, and normal. The capital was clean, more beautiful than ever, landscaped, illuminated, and decorated for the holidays.
I visited several shopping centers and observed a festive consumer atmosphere, with cafe terraces overflowing. I did not detect any ‘panic buying.’ Nor did I observe, in the crowds, any anxiety or fear. I drove through the tangle of urban highways and did not perceive the atmosphere of a city under siege awaiting bombardment.
There were no fortifications, barriers, checkpoints or soldiers on the roads. I did not see armored vehicles, tanks or combat vehicles. One could move around the entire capital with absolute normalcy.
I spoke with various friends, including business leaders and foreign diplomats. All agreed it was a moment of tension and concern, but that citizens continued to lead their usual lives. They also stressed that authorities were making an effort to instill calm and not alarm the population.
That afternoon, on Dec. 31, I was informed that President Maduro would receive me and that we would record the interview. I immediately left for the Miraflores Palace. It was a sunny, hot afternoon, about 86 degrees in the shade.
Upon arrival, I was struck by the tranquility of the atmosphere. Security around the seat of government was minimal–at least in appearance. I entered the palace and was taken to the presidential office.
Shortly afterward, the president and his wife arrived. They did not appear worried or uneasy in the least. Nicolas Maduro displayed spectacular physical condition. He appeared agile, dynamic. and active.
During the long weeks of this stifling crisis, the president had boldly sought to continue fulfilling his agenda, as a challenge thrown at his powerful enemies, despite the new and strict security precautions he had to take because a US$50 million bounty had been placed on his life for anyone who facilitated his capture or assassination.
Admiration For The Composure of Nicolas Maduro
I therefore regarded with even greater admiration the composure of Nicolas Maduro, who now spoke with me unflinchingly and naturally discussed various aspects of the interview, which was not to last more than an hour. He wanted to insist on the need for dialogue and negotiation with the United States.
‘Everything is possible except military confrontation. We must begin to talk seriously, with data in hand. The U.S. government knows this, because we have told many of its spokespeople: If they want to seriously discuss an agreement to fight drug trafficking, we are ready.
If they want oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investment, as with Chevron. Whenever they want, wherever they want and however they want. And if they want comprehensive economic development agreements, here in Venezuela, we are also ready,’ he said.
We went out into the palace courtyard and began filming what he called a ‘podcar’–that is, a podcast recorded in a car. The president invited me to get into his vehicle, parked a few meters away. I sat beside him. There was no bodyguard with us.
The president started the car, and for one hour and four minutes we were able to speak calmly about the crucial moment Venezuela was experiencing.
‘U.S. public opinion must understand that our peoples of the South have the right to exist, to live. That one cannot attempt to impose, with the Monroe Doctrine or any doctrine, a new colonial model, a new hegemonic model, a new interventionist model–a model according to which the countries of the South would have to resign ourselves to being a colony of a power and slaves of new masters. That is unviable,’ the Bolivarian leader said.
I had known Nicolas Maduro for about 20 years, since he was President Hugo Chavez’s brilliant foreign affairs ministry. I have always appreciated his modesty, his astonishing intelligence, his deep political culture, his attachment to dialogue and negotiation, his firm loyalty to progressive values and principles, his refined sense of humor, his austere conception of life rooted in his popular origins, and his unwavering fidelity to the legacy of Commander Chavez.
We drove through Caracas, a chaotic but endearing capital, weaving through traffic jams. Any other driver would have lost his temper. But not the president, who seemed to be in his natural ecosystem. Had he not, after all, been a bus driver for so many years amid the city’s typically apocalyptic traffic jams? Driving relaxed him. He drove calmly and phlegmatically while clearly laying out his analysis of relations with the United States.
‘If there were rationality and diplomacy one day, all the issues they want could be discussed perfectly. We have the maturity and the stature. We are people of our word, serious people. And one day everything could be discussed with the current U.S. government or with whoever comes next,’ he said.
At the end of our conversation, we entered Los Proceres Boulevard, in the heart of Fuerte Tiuna. We approached the main monument. We got out of the car. We walked a few steps as he showed me and commented on the different statues of the heroes and heroines of the liberation of Venezuela and Latin America.
We said goodbye, not before asking him to take a few photos with us. As always, he agreed with kindness and smiles. I walked away with a tight feeling in my chest, seeing, in the beautiful and peaceful Caracas night, my friend Nicolas Maduro–serious and focused–remain there with Cilia, alone, affectionate and confident.
Without knowing that, barely two nights later, fate would come crashing down on them with the ferocity of a rabid beast.
But fortunately they are alive–and they will return.
During his New Year's interview with writer and journalist Ignacio Ramonet, the president of the Bolivarian Republic of #Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, let the people of the #US know that they have a friendly government and a friendly people in Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/LxQfSJio3N
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) January 2, 2026