Venezuelan congressman Nicolás Maduro Guerra called on the ruling Chavista movement to "guarantee its absolute hegemony" in the country, marking two months since US forces captured his father, deposed president Nicolás Maduro.

Speaking at a pro-government march on March 3 demanding the release of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who are being held in New York facing narco-terrorism charges, the younger Maduro acknowledged that Venezuela faces a "complex situation" but insisted the political movement remains in power under interim president Delcy Rodríguez, whom he described as loyal and capable.

He urged supporters to “remain organised” and follow the leadership's directives, conceding the country "has transformed" since the January 3 US military operation that extracted his father from a heavily guarded compound in Caracas.

Yet the rallying call to die-hard Maduro loyalists sits uneasily with the reality of Rodríguez's interim government, which has systematically accommodated American demands. President Donald Trump has made clear Washington will "run" Venezuela during the transition period, maintaining explicit threats of further military intervention alongside economic leverage through control of oil revenues.

For her part, Rodríguez has proved willing to satisfy Trump's expectations. She has proposed legislation opening Venezuela's petroleum sector to private investment, removing restrictions that currently limit foreign participation in the country's vast oil reserves. Her government has released over 600 political prisoners since assuming power and passed amnesty legislation – though with exclusions designed to bar opposition leader María Corina Machado from benefiting – moves that align directly with American directives whilst maintaining a veneer of revolutionary rhetoric to preserve credibility amongst Chavistas.

Several senior US officials have visited Caracas in recent weeks to advance energy, minerals and security cooperation, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright in February and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum earlier this week, while US military officials held separate security talks with Venezuelan counterparts last month.

Maduro Jr.’s assertion of continued hegemony belies growing evidence of regime fractures. Venezuelan intelligence services detained Alex Saab, his father's former industry minister and alleged financial operator, in early February, a move suggesting Rodríguez is purging figures closely associated with the ousted leader.

The elder Maduro faces four criminal charges in the United States, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and cocaine importation, whilst Flores faces similar accusations linked to drugs and weapons trafficking. Both appeared in federal court on January 5, where they pleaded not guilty.

Maduro's defence team has asked a federal court in New York to dismiss the case. His lawyer Barry Pollack argued that the US Treasury Department blocked use of Venezuelan government funds to cover legal fees after denying a licence from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which the defence contends violates Maduro's constitutional right to choose counsel.

Pollack maintained that proceeding to trial under such conditions would be unconstitutional, noting the licence was initially granted but revoked hours later, leaving the legal team without funding in a case that could result in decades of imprisonment for the former president.

The pro-government demonstration where Maduro Guerra spoke represents one of several rallies organised by hard-line Chavistas demanding the couple's release, though turnout has been modest compared to the massive mobilisations the movement commanded during Maduro's presidency.

The protests seek to project continued loyalty amongst the regime's ideological core even as Rodríguez's interim government charts a pragmatic course of cooperation with Washington that diverges sharply from the rabid anti-imperialist rhetoric that defined the socialist movement founded by former president Hugo Chavez for two decades.