(NewsNation) — In his first Amercan interview since the weekend raid that captured Nicolás Maduro, former Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó said the arrest represents justice for his country, not foreign interference, dismissing concerns about how the dictator was removed.
“Accountability is not foreign interference, it’s justice for us,” Guaidó told NewsNation on Monday night. “Holding a criminal accountable is legitimate. Crimes don’t disappear behind borders.”
Guaidó, who was recognized by President Donald Trump as Venezuela’s legitimate president in 2020, said Venezuelans view the capture differently than observers in Washington or Miami. He said his country has suffered years of repression, hyperinflation, mass migration and collapsed public services under Maduro’s rule.
“This didn’t start with a foreign operation last night,” Guaidó said. “It started with ballots, with our votes, with our hope to recover our institutions that were dismantled.”
The former National Assembly president, who fled Venezuela after a political dispute removed him from his opposition role, said 8 million Venezuelans — 25% of the population — want to return to a safe Venezuela with opportunities for all its citizens.
Guaidó warned that Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s vice president and second-in-command, should not remain in power.
“If they don’t collaborate, they’re gonna suffer the same consequences of Maduro,” he said, citing Trump’s statements.
He emphasized the arrest sends a message beyond Venezuela to authoritarian leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega and Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel that “the impunity is over.”
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and weapons offenses in a New York courtroom. They are being held at a Brooklyn detention facility.
The pre-dawn Saturday operation involved 150 aircraft from 20 bases and special forces aided by a CIA informant within the Venezuelan government.
Guaidó said the transition will not be complete until “we restore full democracy back in Venezuela, political prisoners are free and our people can live without fear.”