Two nights before his capture, Nicolás Maduro was driving around Caracas, making a plea to the American public.
“The American people should know that here they have a friend — a friendly, peaceful nation — and a friendly government, too,” he said, looking into the camera during a New Year’s Eve interview with a Spanish journalist, conducted as Mr. Maduro gave a tour by car of his nation’s capital.
“Our message is very clear: ‘No war. Yes peace,’” he added, offering a slogan in English that he had been repeating for weeks. He then handed the journalist, Ignacio Ramonet, a red hat in the style of the Make America Great Again cap with those same words.
The hourlong drive on New Year’s Eve was Mr. Maduro’s last known interview, broadcast on Venezuelan state television just hours before American forces swooped into Caracas and captured him, and it provided a final glimpse into the mind of the Venezuelan autocrat as the U.S. military was pressing in.
As he steered a silver Toyota S.U.V. with his wife, Cilia Flores, in the back seat, Mr. Maduro boasted about his success running Venezuela and accused President Trump of devising pretexts to invade his nation. Most of all, he made clear that he had no interest in a fight.
“For Venezuela to be great, we don’t have to hurt anyone,” he said. “Just like the United States. They want to be ‘great again.’ Well, let them be great through hard work, effort, and a commitment to peace — not through threats and war. Enough is enough.”
The line echoed Mr. Maduro’s effort to cast himself as a peace-and-love president of sorts in recent months. In rallies across Venezuela, he sang “Imagine” by John Lennon, danced to a techno beat paired with his peace slogan, and mimicked Bobby McFerrin in his famous tune encouraging listeners to relax.
In other words, if Winston Churchill had “Keep Calm and Carry On” in the face of a foreign threat, Mr. Maduro was trying “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
Mr. Maduro has also frequently been defiant, however, saying that Venezuela would defend its homeland against what he called imperial forces.
But in his New Year’s Eve interview, even as the U.S. military had him in their sights, Mr. Maduro said he was eager to make a deal.
“The U.S. government knows this because we’ve told many of their officials,” he said. “If they want to have a serious conversation about an antidrug agreement, we’re ready. If they want Venezuelan oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investment — like with Chevron — whenever, wherever, and however they want. People in the U.S. should know that if they want comprehensive economic development agreements, Venezuela is right here.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio questioned whether Mr. Maduro had actually been interested in a deal. “Nicolás Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this,” he said in a news conference on Saturday. “He was provided multiple very, very, very generous offers, and chose instead to act like a wild man, chose instead to play around.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly called Mr. Maduro a cartel leader, and federal prosecutors on Saturday charged the Venezuelan politician and his wife, Ms. Flores, with narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
In his interview with Mr. Ramonet, Mr. Maduro rejected those accusations, instead saying that his government had fought cartels from Colombia — with lethal force, just like Mr. Trump. He said that Venezuelan forces had downed 431 aircraft trafficking drugs over its territory, though it was not clear over what period of time he was referring to.
“Our model is effective, exemplary and highly efficient,” he said. “Everything else you hear is just a narrative that even people in the United States don’t believe.”
He said that the U.S. government had invented the accusation that Mr. Maduro was a cartel leader to justify invading Venezuela. “They can’t accuse me or Venezuela of having weapons of mass destruction, or nuclear missiles, or chemical weapons, so they invented an accusation that the U.S. government knows is just as false as the W.M.D. claims that led them into an eternal war,” he said. “They know it’s a lie. I believe we need to set all that aside and start talking seriously.”
Mr. Trump on Saturday said that he had spoken to Mr. Maduro “a couple of times,” including last week. Mr. Maduro denied reports of a more recent conversation, saying in the Wednesday interview that he spoke with Mr. Trump once, on Nov. 21, in a 10-minute, “very respectful” call.
“It was actually quite a pleasant conversation, though the developments following that call have not been pleasant,” he said. “We shall see. I leave everything in God’s hands.”
While the U.S. government was already planning his capture, Mr. Maduro was pointing out attractions in Caracas to Mr. Ramonet, a Spanish author who wrote authorized biographies of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, the dual leftist icons of Cuba and Venezuela. There was the plaza where Mr. Castro had held a large rally in 1959, the avenue that Mr. Chávez had filled during his campaign in 2012, and the statue holding aloft a Soviet flag.
Mr. Ramonet said this was the 10th consecutive year that he had interviewed Mr. Maduro, and that he had shown the successes of Mr. Maduro’s government that the international media sought to hide.
“For the Western media, direct democracy doesn’t exist” in Venezuela, Mr. Maduro replied. “I challenge them to debate in any neighborhood in Caracas they want, with our people, not with me. Let them debate the people, so they can see how a new democracy is being built.”
Mr. Maduro’s government has for years suppressed and censored journalists in Venezuela and helped control state-media broadcasts.
As Mr. Maduro drove, he also reminisced about his travels in the United States. “New York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Queens, Manhattan, Washington,” he said. “I’ve driven there quite a bit. I told the U.S. President that: I know it well.”
On Saturday, Mr. Trump brought Mr. Maduro back to New York. He was expected to be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Mr. Maduro had something very different in mind for 2026. He said in the final hours of 2025 that this year would be about an important struggle.
“For 2026 — the year I’ve called the Year of the Great Challenge — we will overcome the turmoil and difficulties, and continue strengthening Venezuela as a country at peace,” he said.
“I surrender it all to God,” he added. “God knows what he’s doing.”
Jack Nicas is The Times’s Mexico City bureau chief, leading coverage of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
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