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Maduro Faces Mounting Legal Case; Trump's Venezuela Operation Draws Mixed Reactions From Congress; Venezuelans And Former Hostage React To Maduro's Ouster; Jury Selection To Begin In Trial Of Former Uvalde Officer. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 04, 2026 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00]

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UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and thank you so much for sharing your evening with us. I'm Boris Sanchez and this is CNN special breaking news coverage. We begin this hour with a mounting legal case against ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. The deposed leader is set to make his first court appearance in New York tomorrow after the U.S. captured him in a surprise attack early yesterday. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are facing multiple charges of drug trafficking and working with terrorist organizations.

President Trump says the United States will now run Venezuela for the foreseeable future, laying out a stark new warning to the country's interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez. Do what's right or pay a very big price, even bigger than Maduro.

Around the world, the Trump administration's actions against Venezuela is drawing strong condemnation with protests popping up in South America, Europe and beyond. But here in the United States?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Thank you, USA! Thank you, USA! Thank you, USA!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Venezuelan Americans are taking to the streets to cheer Maduro's removal from power though questions over what comes next for the nation and U.S. involvement continue to grow. As the ousted dictator sits in federal detention in New York, protesters have been chanting and holding signs outside the jail where Maduro is being held. Let's take you there now with CNN's Evan Perez. Evan, what is the latest?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris. Well, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia, have now spent their first 24 hours here detained at the federal detention center in Brooklyn, New York. Now, this is a place with a pretty grim, pretty notorious reputation. Everyone from members of Congress, judges have called it inhumane, the conditions inhumane. Even the Justice Department's inspector general has catalogued a lot of abuses going on in there, including poor medical conditions, medical care for some of the people who are held there, the lack of heat. In 2024, they documented a number of prisoners who had illegal weapons as well as electronics.

So, this is the condition under which they are now living under, far different from, of course, the Miraflores presidential palace where they were just about 24 hours before.

Now, what happens next is that we're expecting the Maduros to be in federal court tomorrow at noon where they will have the first formal reading of these four charges that they're facing, including narcotrafficking and cocaine importation conspiracy. Those are the charges that they will face. It's a presentment. So, we may not yet hear a plea from that.

Again, we don't know who they'll have represented, if they have a lawyer yet, but this begins a very long process for the Maduros here facing the U.S. justice system. We expect, of course, that we'll hear when he does have a legal team, including, of course, that the U.S. action was illegal, that he should not face these charges here in the United States.

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But this is something that's going to take a number of months, perhaps more than a year, before he even gets to trial. Again, this all gets started tomorrow at the federal court in downtown Manhattan. Boris?

SANCHEZ: A historic moment, no doubt. And, of course, CNN will bring it to you as it happens. Evan Perez outside the courthouse in New York, thank you so much.

I want to bring in CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes now. Kristen, a lot of details to sift through. What is the White House saying about how they plan to run Venezuela?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're hearing a lot from various officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says they're not running Venezuela, but they're running Venezuelan policy. Let's take a listen to how he described this.

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MARCO RUBIO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it's not running, it's running a policy, the policy with regards to this. We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction because not only do we think it's good for the people of Venezuela, it's in our national interest. It either touches on something that's a threat to our national security or touches on something that's either beneficial or harmful.

This is a team effort by the entire national security apparatus of our country, but it is running this policy. And the goal of the policy is to see changes in Venezuela that are beneficial to the United States first and foremost because that's who we work for, but also, we believe, beneficial for the people of Venezuela who have suffered tremendously.

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HOLMES: OK, so this is the very broad look at this from Rubio, talking about how this is policy, how all the teams are working together, but you're not really getting the nitty gritty of how is this going to work. What we're told by U.S. officials is that there are two things that the United States is currently focused on. One is the administrative stability, and that is why you are seeing the U.S. really all in right now on the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez.

Now, as you said, President Trump himself has been offering threats. He told a reporter that if she doesn't play ball, essentially, with the United States, she's going to pay a bigger price than Maduro. But we actually talked to U.S. officials who are working on the relationship right now with Venezuela and rebuilding that government. They're more optimistic when it comes to Rodriguez, saying they believe that she is going to work with them, and that goes into that administrative stability. That's why you're not seeing them backing anyone else at this point.

Now, the other part of this is that they want to rebuild the country's oil infrastructure. That is very clear. They have talked enormously and at length about trying to bring in U.S. and Western investments, particularly when it comes to oil. You're going to have to rebuild that oil infrastructure to do so.

One of the most interesting things that we've seen here though is how the administration has sort of cast aside the opposition leader, Maria Machado, because there have been so many conversations over time about how is she the rightful leader of Venezuela, is her party the rightful leading party of Venezuela. And now, you see President Trump essentially think she doesn't have the respect of the Venezuelan people to lead.

That was not that surprising to advisors that I spoke to who said that President Trump was never fully getting on board when it came to Machado. And again, they are looking for some kind of stability here and bringing in Machado is not going to bring that.

SANCHEZ: That is a fascinating development given the support from the Venezuelan opposition globally for Maria Corina Machado. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much for that reporting.

Joining us now to further discuss is staff writer for "The Atlantic" and former foreign correspondent in Latin America, Missy Ryan. Missy, thanks so much for being with us. What stands out to you from what we've seen not only from President Trump and his statements threatening Delcy Rodriguez but from the current interim president of Venezuela and the remnants of the Maduro regime which remain in charge?

MISSY RYAN, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Sure. Well, what's striking to me 36 hours on is how many of these massive questions about the course ahead for Venezuela remain unanswered by the Trump administration. You've had conflicting statements from senior Trump administration officials, including the president and the secretary of state about what it means when Trump says that the United States will run Venezuela.

He suggested to my colleague, Michael Scherer, in an interview earlier today that they would rebuild the country. He has signaled a willingness to remain in Venezuela, place boots on the ground.

But on the other hand, people close to Trump tell us that there are limits to his new kind of emerging Western hemisphere, the 'Donroe Doctrine' that he talked about yesterday, that he still doesn't want -- as we've thought for a long time, he still doesn't want a foreign quagmire, he doesn't want an endless war.

And we heard Marco Rubio go out on the Sunday shows this morning and strike a very different tone. Really, he steered away from any confirmation that the United States would be administrating Venezuela in a way that, you know, would have evoked the viceroy role that U.S. officials played in Iraq. He seemed to be tamping down any comparison between those two situations. And the Pentagon has not clarified what role it will have going forward.

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And so, you know, it's just a very Trump administration-type situation where you have this very dramatic history making world event, but this kind of fundamental questions that the administration isn't even really trying to answer in the hours afterwards.

SANCHEZ: That is a notable point. Do you think that this is being received as expected across Latin America with criticism coming from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, et cetera?

RYAN: Yes. I mean, it's kind of falling along ideological lines in Latin America. You have the right-leaning governments coming out in support of it to no big surprise, and then the leftist countries like Brazil and Chile expressing concern.

What I think is actually more interesting in terms of international reaction is what we're seeing from Europe. I mean, this whole situation puts America's most important historic allies in Europe in a difficult situation because they don't want to be seen standing up for someone like Nicolas Maduro. He's a drug trafficker to some extent. You know, probably much less than we've seen Trump assert. But at the same time, they have serious concerns about the international legitimacy of this operation.

And so, we have these measured statements from people like Keir Starmer from the U.K., from countries notably in Northern Europe. Denmark has to be very worried. And a little bit more open criticism for people like Emmanuel Macron.

So, I think that as this goes forward, those countries are going to be asking the same questions that you and I were just discussing. What is the plan in Venezuela for President Trump right now? And that's going to make all the difference in whether or not they support or they don't support.

SANCHEZ: A worry in Denmark in large part because of President Trump's statements about Greenland and any potential designs --

RYAN: Exactly.

SANCHEZ: -- his administration has with taking it over.

RYAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Missy Ryan, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate your time.

Still to come, a sense of uncertainty at the border between Venezuela and Colombia after Maduro's ouster, coming up with people there are saying. And relief may soon be coming for frustrated flyers stuck in the Caribbean because of this extraction operation. Still ahead, how airlines are working to clear a backlog.

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SANCHEZ: There's still a lot of unanswered questions regarding what President Trump has described as the U.S. running Venezuela. Officials tell CNN the administration is working quickly to establish an interim government now that ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is in a Brooklyn detention center facing arraignment tomorrow at noon.

Let's get some perspective from Florida Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez who is also a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for sharing part of your evening with us.

I want to start with Delcy Rodriguez, the interim leader of Venezuela. President Trump is saying that she will do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again, which also includes facilitating access to the country's oil, a fate worse than Maduro. On the other hand, she is saying that Venezuela will never again be slaves, will never again be a colony of any empire. She's an avowed leftist, handpicked by Maduro. How do you read that disparity? Doesn't this seem like there is going to be an inevitable armed conflict between the U.S. and Caracas?

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): I don't think there's going to be an armed conflict. But we still -- you know, there is still a number of the regime members that are there that are under indictment just like Nicolas Maduro. I don't think Delcy Rodriguez is, but I share your opinion that, you know, she's part of this regime, this regime that's repressing its people and does it through intimidation. And so, I'm not looking to deal with Delcy Rodriguez for a very long time. I understand that you have to do that for a while to keep stability in the country. But we need to have free and fair elections in Venezuela. And we need to have those, have it sometime within a year, because, you know, you're going to lose the enthusiasm, the trust of the people, the diaspora that lives in my community, but also around the world. And so, you know, we can't just deal with one narco-terrorist because they happen to do what we want them to do. That's not the right thing to do. And so, look, I don't want an armed conflict.

But also, Nicolas Maduro is gone and so is his wife. There are still other people there that are under indictment. They are terrorizing the Venezuelan people. Again, we need to take our time and do this right. This is -- there's no -- there's no -- there's no, you know, playbook for this, OK? And so --

SANCHEZ: Sure.

GIMENEZ: -- you know, we're going to have to play it right. But at the end, what we want is a free and democratic Venezuela with a duly elected government representing Venezuela.

SANCHEZ: So --

GIMENEZ: And I think when you get to that, you're going to have Venezuela doing great things and also Venezuela being an ally of the United States.

SANCHEZ: You think (INAUDIBLE) has leaned on Rodriguez? Do you have any indication that she perhaps had (INAUDIBLE) to sell out Maduro in exchange for some kind of guarantees?

GIMENEZ: Well, I think she just saw what happened to Nicolas Maduro. I don't think she wants it to happen to her. I mean, we've demonstrated the ability to do that basically at will whenever we want at a time and place of our choosing. And she understands that now. You know, she can surround herself with a thousand people. That's not going to help her. And so that fear is a great motivator.

But again, she is part of this regime. And so, you know, we need to move on from this regime. I'm not saying it's going to be today, tomorrow or a month from now or two months from now, but eventually, sooner rather than later, we got to move on from this regime because this regime in the end will never be a friend of the United States.

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As soon as they can find a way out or wait us out, they'll turn to their ways, which is turn to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

GIMENEZ: That is not in the long-term interest of America -- long-term American interest.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, when you talk about having elections, hopefully within a year in Venezuela, does it concern you that President Trump specifically did not mention democracy or elections as a goal in his statements yesterday? And why not have Maria Corina Machado, the Nobel Prize winner who helped defeat Maduro in the last election, as a part of this transition? Why does she lack respect in Venezuela, as the president says?

GIMENEZ: She doesn't lack respect in Venezuela. I have a different opinion. I have a different assessment of Maria Corina Machado. I've met Maria Corina Machado. She's an incredibly brave woman. And look, if it wasn't for being disqualified by the Maduro regime, she would have been elected the president of Venezuela a year and a half ago. Now, that's an election that happened a year and a half ago.

And so, I think something new needs to happen. But if it were to happen today, I can tell you that Maria Corina Machado would be the president of Venezuela. Now, can she put together a government and keep stability in Venezuela today? That's up in the air.

But I think what we need to do is set the groundwork to provide that stability in Venezuela so that when there is an election, when there is a transfer of power to the duly elected representatives of the people, that that's done in a smooth as possible way with the least amount of violence possible. Now, that is easier said than done.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

GIMENEZ: So that's why I think that you're seeing, you know, Marco Rubio, our secretary of state, you know, kind of, you know, mince his words and what it is that we're trying to do and what the president is doing right now. But the long-term goal is to have Venezuela.

SANCHEZ: President Trump spoke extensively yesterday about maximizing Venezuela's oil and limiting access for U.S. But it is a sovereign nation. So, if like Brazil or Saudi Arabia sells oil to China, what is different about Venezuela selling oil to China? What claim does the U.S. have over Venezuela's oil?

GIMENEZ: I mean, look, a lot of the infrastructure there was built by American companies. And so, it's a return on investment of American companies on that oil. Are they a sovereign nation? Yes. Can they sell their oil to whoever? Yes. What we need to do is focus more in Latin America. We've allowed the Chinese, the Russians, North Koreans, and the Iranians to have access or actually make inroads in Latin America because we have been asleep at the wheel.

Plus, we've also had these dictatorships that are adverse to the United States. And this hemisphere should be the hemisphere. And when you have freedom and democracy, you bring along peace. But also, most democracies are actually allied to United States, not so much to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

And so, we should be fostering democracy in Latin America and do what we can to eliminate these dictators or pressure them or do what we can in order to stop -- you know, spread democracy and limit dictatorship in our hemisphere.

SANCHEZ: To that point, congressman, should the United States intervene militarily in Cuba next? GIMENEZ: I'm not calling for a military intervention. Look, I think one of the things in Cuba, the Cuban regime is in the weakest position it has been in over 60 years. And now, if in fact we can cut off the aid that Venezuela is giving to Cuba, that it's going to be even weaker. And so, there have been demonstrations in Cuba against the regime. They can't even keep the lights on.

I think we exert more pressure on Cuba and then -- so that they can determine, the regime itself can determine that it's in an untenable position and that it needs to leave. Then once again, we can have a free and democratic Cuba that becomes an ally of the United States instead of being an adversary of the United States. And the same thing goes to Nicaragua.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Carlos Gimenez, we have to leave the conversation there. We appreciate your time and sharing your point of view.

GIMENEZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: So, is history repeating itself? Why Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is saying Americans should be concerned about these developments in Venezuela.

[17:24:58]

Plus, millions of Venezuelan exiles celebrating the news of Maduro's capture. We have reaction from across the United States next.

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SANCHEZ: Domestic airlines are offering additional flights around the Eastern Caribbean after Saturday's military operation disrupted holiday travel. No airlines entered Venezuelan airspace yesterday, leading major carriers to cancel hundreds of flights across the region.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the restrictions ended at midnight, allowing airlines to resume normal operations today.

Companies including Delta, United, Southwest, American Airlines and JetBlue say they've also added additional flights to their existing services.

[17:30:04]

Today, in Washington, President Trump's dramatic military operation in Venezuela is drawing mixed reactions on Capitol Hill. Most Republicans are offering praise for the capture of the country's dictator, Nicolas Maduro, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune applauding Trump's decision to disrupt what he calls the unacceptable status quo.

On the other side of the aisle, Democrats are united in their opposition to the attack, accusing the administration of lying to lawmakers and not seeking congressional approval for the strikes. Let's listen to what members of both parties had to say earlier today.

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SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): Well, who's not running Venezuela anymore is Nicolas Maduro. And that's a great thing and it's a great day for America and for the people of Venezuela and really the civilized world. When the president said the United States is going to be running Venezuela, it means that the new leaders of Venezuela need to meet our demand.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The American people this morning, George, are scratching their heads in wonderment and in fear of what the president has proposed. The United States will run Venezuela. We have learned through the years, when America tries to do regime change and nation building in this way, the American people pay the price in both blood and in dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with Juliegrace Brufke. She's a congressional reporter at 24Sight News. Juliegrace, thanks so much for being with us.

JULIEGRACE BRUFKE, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, 24SIGHT NEWS: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: I want to ask you about both sides. But with Republicans, it's really interesting because you have this tension between this sort of traditional hawkish wing of the party, the Tom Cottons, the Lindsey Grahams, and then the more MAGA isolationist thought of J.D. Vance President Trump himself. How do you see them navigating this obvious intervention in Latin American affairs?

BRUFKE: Now, I've talked to an array of Republicans today. Most of them have been very much on board with this, applauding it, saying it was necessary action. That being said, there have been a couple of members with Thomas Massie, a couple others --

SANCHEZ: Right.

BRUFKE: -- that feel this could be Iraq 2.0. That being said, I talked to some sources close to the administration. They said it wasn't totally out of line with Trump's previous actions like Soleimani, for instance, where instances like that, having to just kind of take an action like that in the past where they pointed to that.

But I think we'll probably see some pushback from the more libertarian wing of the party. But largely everyone I've spoken with, at least publicly, has kind of been on board, albeit some have been frustrated with some of the president's messaging on it.

SANCHEZ: Democrats are seething over this, especially members of the Gang of Eight who were not briefed on what happened, at least as of last check. Is there much that Democrats can do about the president's unilateral action?

BRUFKE: Well, I mean, I think it'll probably be a messaging point for them moving into election season. I mean, we heard Jim Himes earlier speak about how Gang of Eight wasn't briefed there and some frustrations about that. Secretary Rubio kind of indicating the imminent action wasn't going to be immediate there.

So, I mean, I think there's going to be -- it's going to be an interesting week on Capitol Hill on kind of the dynamics there, but I definitely think that it's something that they're going to hammer as we head into the midterms.

SANCHEZ: To that point, how do you think this shakes out with the MAGA base leading into an election year?

BRUFKE: I mean, right now, from kind of the reaction we've seen so far, it seems like a lot of positive response from MAGA world. I mean, we'll see kind of some of the anti-war. I mean, how they kind of ultimately respond to that. But I think it kind of remains to be seen on how some of this shakes out before we can get a full reaction on that.

SANCHEZ: Yes. No doubt. There's still a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to what happens next. Undoubtedly, what comes with this shift in Venezuela will have some bearing on at least the messaging in the midterms.

I'm curious about Marjorie Taylor Greene because she has called this a betrayal of Trump's MAGA movement. And notably, tomorrow is her last day in office. She has chosen to move on from a life in politics as of right now. What do you see as her future and what do you make of her statements?

BRUFKE: I mean, like she has definitely kind of been in a feud with the president. We've seen him go after her.

SANCHEZ: Right.

BRUFKE: But -- I mean, she has kind of always been more of an isolationist whose -- that (INAUDIBLE) Republican Party there.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

BRUFKE: So, not totally surprising but, I mean, a lot of rumors surrounding whether or not she'll run for president next time around. So, I guess keep our eyes on that moving forward, but just an interesting one to watch.

SANCHEZ: We shall see. Juliegrace Brufke, thanks so much.

BRUFKE: Thanks so much.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it. Still plenty more news to come this evening. Reaction was swift after the U.S. operation in Venezuela. Coming up, we're going to speak with a man who was wrongfully held in a Venezuelan prison for nearly five years. He'll react to the news when we come back.

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[17:35:00]

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SANCHEZ: We're seeing mixed reactions around the world and here in the United States to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's capture, some cheering his removal from power while others are calling for his immediate release.

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CROWD: Thank you, USA! Thank you, USA! Thank you, USA!

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SANCHEZ: This was in Atlanta a short time ago. A large group waving Venezuelan flags gathered, chanting "thank you, USA." CNN's Rafael Romo joins us now with details on how other Venezuelans here in the United States are reacting. Generally, here in the U.S., Rafael, there seems to be elation.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And you said the key word there, generally. And this is because there are many, many Venezuelans here in the United States. And according to the U.N. Refugee Agency, nearly 7.7 million Venezuelans have left their country since 2014. Boris, the agency calls this migration the largest exodus in Latin America's recent history and one of the largest displacement crises in the world.

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These Venezuelans have migrated to multiple countries in Latin America, including neighboring Colombia, Chile, and Brazil, but many others have come to the United States and have made cities like Miami, Los Angeles, and New York their home.

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This was the scene in Miami on Saturday where many Venezuelans gathered to celebrate the news that Nicolas Maduro had been captured by U.S. forces in an overnight raid.

In downtown Chicago, people marched to protest the operation to bring Maduro to the United States to face charges of narco-terrorism and to say no to war and hands-off Venezuela.

In Los Angeles, the Venezuelan-American owner of a cafe said she would have preferred the regime change through democratic means but still welcome the news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMARA BARROETA, OWNER, AMARA CAFE: This is a moment that we have been waiting for many, many years. And this is not something that Venezuelans really wanted. I mean, I don't think we want it to be rescued by it. We fought for many years for freedom. And we're glad that, you know, there is help, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Rafael Pinedo, a city council member in Doral, Florida and a Venezuelan-American born in Caracas, told CNN that Maduro's capture was necessary.

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RAFAEL PINEDO, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, DORAL, FLORIDA: This is not an intervention in Venezuela. This is not a war against Venezuela. We have to take it as we're dealing with criminals. We're dealing with narco- terrorists that they have to face charges here in the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: But other Venezuelans expressed doubts and concerns, saying that getting rid of Nicolas Maduro is a blow to the regime, but not necessarily the end of Chavismo, the kind of left-wing populism that has defined the Venezuelan economy for decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESUS AGUAIS, VENEZUELAN AMERICAN IN NEW YORK: It's important to understand that the Venezuelan regime has five heads and Maduro and his wife are one or two of those. And the four remaining in Venezuela are the minister of defense, the vice president, and other actors like Diosdado Cabello.

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ROMO: This Venezuelan American, Boris, also said that he's concerned about what President Donald Trump really means when he says the United States is going to run Venezuela and take control of its oil. He's also concerned, he said, about the loyalty of Venezuela's new acting president to the Maduro system. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Rafael Romo, thank you so much for that reporting. Maduro has created an even more tense situation for many political prisoners. Our next guest is an American citizen who was held hostage by Maduro for five years. His book, "1,755 Days in Captivity," details his experience and torture during that time.

Jorge Toledo joins us now from Austin, Texas. Jorge, thank you so much for being with us. For our viewers, you were a member of a group of petroleum executives known as the Citgo Six, who were lured to Venezuela back in 2017 under the guise of a business meeting. And then you were wrongfully detained, according to the U.S. government. You wrote, obviously, about the horrible conditions that you faced.

I imagine that when you saw that Maduro had been captured, there was some part of you that felt relief or vindication seeing him in handcuffs. What was going through your mind? Can you hear me?

JORGE TOLEDO, FORMER MADURO REGIME HOSTAGE, AUTHOR: Yes, I can hear you. Yes, I can speak about a couple of aspects here. The first thing is cause and effect. So, these people caused a tremendous harm to our country, a population, and even in the region because a criminal organization has intoxicated the entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean.

So, the second thought is, you know, I recall my first day in prison and how I felt. And when I saw the images, I said, you know, it's interesting how -- to see these couple of individuals on the other side of the fence now, you know, starting that process on being imprisoned. So, life is interesting.

SANCHEZ: You say that with a certain level of irony. But I do wonder if you're concerned about what might happen to those political prisoners who are still in Venezuela.

TOLEDO: Well, that is one of my main point of concerns because there is a risk of retaliation.

[17:45:00]

In my case, I was victim of retaliation during the five years of my ordeal because of any of the actions between the Venezuelan regime and the U.S. So, my concern is whereabouts of all these political prisoners, the Venezuelan political prisoners. But also, you know, there are at least five Americans in Venezuela now in addition to other Italians, Portuguese. They are in a very vulnerable and delicate situation now.

SANCHEZ: I also wonder what you make of the framing from President Trump and his allies talking about U.S. interests in Venezuelan oil. Venezuelan oil was nationalized back in the 1970s and Hugo Chavez expanded that in limiting American access to Venezuela's energy. But do you believe that the U.S. has a legitimate claim not only over Venezuela's resources, but over who can -- who Venezuela can sell those resources to, specifically China and Russia?

TOLEDO: Well, if we go back to the origin of all of this, during the Chavez time, creation of assets of the oil companies such as Exxon or ConocoPhillips. Also, we can talk about Owens-Illinois and, you know, food companies, et cetera, that they expropriated all these assets. So, based on their manipulation of the rule of law.

So, I would say that, you know, we need to consider, you know, the origin of all of this. And then I expect that the U.S. conducts their actions within the framework of the proper jurisdiction in order to recover all these assets that were kidnapped or stolen by the Venezuelan regime.

SANCHEZ: Lastly, Jorge, are you hopeful that there's soon going to be elections in Venezuela?

TOLEDO: Well, I think that this is going to be a long process. So, a process that -- and his wife has been taken into justice in the U.S. This is -- we're not talking about a government or an ideology. We're talking about a criminal enterprise that has taken a country. So, there's no diplomacy, no sovereign country. It's just a kidnapping of a population in a country. So, there's going to be some several steps in order to recover the proper order of democracy and justice in Venezuela.

SANCHEZ: Jorge Toledo, thank you so much for sharing your point of view. We appreciate your time.

TOLEDO: My pleasure. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Stay with us. Much more still ahead on CNN.

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[17:50:00]

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SANCHEZ: As we step aside from the breaking news in Venezuela for a moment, we want to bring you an update out of Uvalde, Texas. More than three years after the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which claimed the lives of 19 kids and two teachers, jury selection is set to begin tomorrow for former school police officer Adrian Gonzales. He's facing more than two dozen counts of abandoning and endangering a child. Gonzales was one of the first officers to respond to the massacre but, according to his indictment, he failed to act to stop the carnage.

CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is live for us in Texas. Shimon, you've obviously been covering the story for years now. What do you think we can expect?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, I mean, it has been, you know, a long stretch here of this investigation. And finally, for the families of these victims, they're going to be able to come to a court and hopefully get some answers and get the accountability that they're looking for.

It's going to be a tough trial for the prosecution. Certainly, one of the things that they're charging here is that this former officer failed to distract or failed to take any kind of action to try and prevent this from happening.

And one of the key pieces of evidence they have in this case is the officer's own statements. Just the day after this shooting over three years ago, he was interviewed by investigators, and they were asking him about the fact that he didn't take certain action. That's a big part of this case. And he explained what he did and what he didn't do when he heard gunshots. Take a listen.

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ADRIAN GONZALES, FORMER UVALDE SCHOOL POLICE OFFICER (voice-over): Take cover, guys. Take cover. Shots fired.

GONZALES: Under my radio, I don't know if I break. I said, hey, shots fired, shots fired at Robb's school. And then I tell him, you know, the general location where he's at. So, I started moving up, trying to get from front of my vehicle to the back. There was the only thing that was the tree and then the building. So, I started walking towards there.

And then I see an officer, one of the P.D. officers coming. And then, all of sudden, I see like glass coming out and firing. You know, somebody firing in glass, you know. A couple of rounds come out of the glass. I tell the guy, I tell the P.D. officer, get back, it's coming from over there.

GONZALES (voice-over): He's going to be on the west school -- on the west side of the school by those vehicles. He's wearing all black, all black.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): As the rounds are being fired, is there a reason why you don't fire?

GONZALES: Because I don't see where the rounds are coming from.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): That way we can explain.

GONZALES: Yes. I know they're coming from the back over here.

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I just don't know where they're coming from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: Now, prosecutors are alleging that he had some idea of where the shooter was. He was told where the shooter was. Now, this video, Boris, was not released publicly. But, as you know, we've been covering the story for over three years, our team at CNN. And so, we were able to obtain this video from sources. This is going to be a key part of the prosecution case.

They've subpoenaed 75 witnesses to testify. There's going to be a survivor, a teacher who survived, somehow a miracle, a miracle that he survived. He's expected to testify. A family member of a survivor is expected to testify. So, jury selection will begin here tomorrow, and then we're expected to start hearing from witnesses on Tuesday.

And this is all taking place here at Corpus Christi, 200 miles outside of Uvalde. The trial was moved here because the defense asked out of fairness to come to another venue. And so, the judge granted that. And so, that's why we're here in Corpus Christi and everything will get underway here tomorrow. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes, the start of a major chapter in hopefully a step forward in helping that community heal. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much for the reporting from Texas.

Thank you so much for joining us this evening. I'm Boris Sanchez. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Jessica Dean in just a moment.

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