“We Support Dialogue, but Will not Surrender to Threats and Coercion.” Highlights Venezuela’s Ambassador to Iran

José Rafael Silva Aponte, Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to Tehran, is a distinguished military figure with an enduring connection to the ideals of the Bolivarian Revolution. His acquaintance with the late Hugo Chávez dates back to 1986 when he was a student at the Military Academy of the Bolivarian Aviation and Chávez was his parachuting instructor. This bond later deepened immensely that Aponte had the honor of serving as President Chávez’s adjutant from 2003 to 2006. He describes Chávez as not only a military leader but also a deeply emotional human being who, even amidst political concerns, prioritized fulfilling the wish of an ill child in Uruguay over strict diplomatic formalities.

Before entering the field of diplomacy, Aponte rose through the highest military ranks and served as Commander General of the Bolivarian Military Aviation. Now, under the direct order from Nicolás Maduro, he is tasked to expand all-round relations with Iran, especially within the framework of the 20-Year Cooperation Agreement.

This senior diplomat considers the extensive deployment of the US navy to the Caribbean, attacks on ships, and authorization of covert CIA operations as part of the permanent strategy of regime change; but he emphasizes that Venezuela is fully prepared to defend its independence and resources by mobilizing eight million people, holding large-scale exercises, and creating an alliance between the people and the military.

AVA Diplomatic’s Exclusive Interview with

Mr. José Rafael Silva Aponte, Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to Iran

When and how did you meet the late Hugo Chávez?

First of all, I would like to extend my sincere greetings and respect to all members of the “AVA Diplomatic” team.

As for Commander Chavez, I have known him since 1986, when I was a sophomore student at the former Military Air Force School, now known as the Military Academy of the Bolivarian Aviation.

It was at the same academy that Commander Chavez, a captain back then, was one of the parachuting instructors, and as students of that period, we were honored to meet and work with him while taking the parachuting training course.

A few years later, I had the honor of being one of his adjutants from 2003 to 2006. One of the lasting memories of that time took place on December 8, 2005 in Montevideo, Uruguay, when he was leaving his hotel to attend a meeting at the La Teja Refinery. A lady approached President Chávez to pay her respects and said, “My son wished to see you in person, but he could not make it due to illness.” She then presented him with a letter her son had written to the commander.

On the way from the hotel to the refinery, Commander Chavez read the letter carefully and asked me to call the number written on it. I followed his instructions and called the boy’s father to inform him that President Chavez wanted to talk to his son. Moments later, there was a direct conversation between the Venezuelan President and the Uruguayan boy.

I will never forget that story; a moment that revealed the depth of humanity, love, and intimacy of Commander and President Hugo Chavez to the people, not only to his own nation, but to all the nations of the world.

What position were you holding at the time of the military coup on 27^th of November, 1992, and what memories do you remember of that time?

Beyond everything, I must say that event was not a “military coup,” but rather a “military uprising” against a system operating under the command of the United States administration.

At that point, I was a pilot in “Special Operations Air Group No 15”, a group that flew with OV-10 Bronco.

Prior to the November 27, 1992 uprising, a popular uprising took place on February 27 and 28, 1989, which became known as “El Caracazo,” in response to the implementation of policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund.

These policies severely oppressed the Venezuelan people and sparked the world’s first popular uprising, not just against the government of Carlos Andrés Pérez, but also against the International Monetary Fund.

In that era, the repression of the Venezuelan people cost thousands of lives, killed by the armed forces of the time. Today, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces officially condemn those actions.

What military positions did you have before being appointed as Venezuela’s ambassador to Iran?

Before being appointed as Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the proposal and appointment of President Nicolás Maduro Moros, I held the position of “Commander General of the Bolivarian Military Aviation” for two years (from July 7, 2020 to July 26, 2022).

My military rank, position, and unit of military service were as follows:

– Lieutenant Colonel, Adjutant to Commander Hugo Chavez President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Presidential Honor Guard

– Lieutenant Colonel, Commander of Repair and Maintenance Group No 137, Simon Bolívar Fighter Aviation Group No 13

– Lieutenant Colonel, Commander of Flight Group No 133, Simon Bolívar Fighter Aviation Group No 13

– Lieutenant Colonel, Chief of Operations of Simon Bolívar Fighter Aviation Group No 13

– Colonel, Commander of Simon Bolívar Fighter Aviation Group No 13

– Brigadier General, Commander of Lieutenant Luis del Valle García Air base (BAVALLE)

– Brigadier General, Director of the Air Training Center of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces

– Major General, Commander of El Libertador Air Base (BAEL)

– Major General, Director of Operational Preparation of Bolivarian Military Aviation

– Lieutenant General, Commander of the Los Llanos Strategic Region of Integral Defense

– Lieutenant General, Commander General of the Bolivarian Military Aviation

– Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Islamic Republic of Iran

After being appointed as the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Islamic Republic of Iran, what was President Maduro’s most important advice to you?

Among all the advice the President gave me, the most important was to consolidate and strengthen relations between the two countries in all areas including diplomatic, political, economic, cultural, scientific, and technological, and to maintain and expand the bond between the brotherly nation and government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

How do you assess the level of current relations between the two countries? What fields are there to deepen and expand various political, economic, cultural, and scientific relations?

Let’s keep in mind that in June 2022, a “20-Year Cooperation Agreement” was signed between President Nicolás Maduro Moros and President Martyr Ebrahim Raisi.

Within the framework of that agreement, relations between the two countries were strengthened in the sectors of energy, health, transportation, politics, economy, culture and science. Also in November of the same year, the 9^th meeting of the Iran-Venezuela Joint Economic Committee was held in Tehran. Thereafter, in November 2024, the 10^th meeting of the Iran-Venezuela Joint Economic Committee was held in Caracas, as a result of which a total of 299 agreements were signed between the two countries in numerous fields.

Considering the U.S. military threats against Iran and Venezuela and your experience as the former Commander General of the Bolivarian Military Aviation, to what extent can the two countries cooperate in the field of air defense and drone manufacturing technology?

When our great and eternal commander, Hugo Chavez, assumed the presidency of Venezuela, the United States stopped its military support for our country in 2006, and all agreements between the two governments terminated. Accordingly, Commander Chavez, with a broad and strategic vision, expanded his alliances with different countries around the world, including Iran, China, Russia, and Belarus.

These relations were later strengthened and pursued by President Nicolas Maduro. In fact, if we ask how many countries in the world are capable of building drones, the answer is merely 11 countries, and Iran is one of them and this is of great significance for the military sphere.

In the maneuvers and exercises held by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ministry of Defense, and the Revolutionary Guard Corps, we have witnessed the remarkable capacity and strength of this country; a capacity that was clearly demonstrated in “Operation True Promise 1, 2, and 3” in defense of Iran’s territorial integrity.

We, in Venezuela, have learned from Iran and have exchanged knowledge in the field of drones with Iran and other friendly countries that are themselves drone manufacturers.

Relying on cooperation, knowledge exchange, and taking advantage of the experiences gained from our allies, we are now building our own domestic drones.

What measures has Venezuela taken to strengthen its defense and security capabilities and counter potential threats from the United States? Are these steps purely military, or do they have diplomatic and legal dimensions as well?

These measures began when Commander Chavez assumed the presidency and command of the armed forces in 1999 and implemented a policy of diversifying Venezuela’s weapons systems. It is worth noting that before 1999, the military course books in the Venezuelan armed forces were all American and tailored to the interests of that country. This situation was converted with the formulation of the new Bolivarian military doctrine by Commander Chavez himself, opening the country’s window to new horizons.

For instance, in 1983, the United States sold 24 F-16 fighters to Venezuela, but withheld full weapon delivery to limit the aircrafts’ operational range.

Today, weaponries purchased from other allied countries enter Venezuela in full and without restrictions.

From the outset of his first term of presidency, Commander Chávez knew well that he was facing a powerful enemy; as the great libertarian Simón Bolívar said in 1828: “The United States appear to be destined by Providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty.”

Nowadays, it can be said that Bolívar’s prediction has gone beyond the borders of the continent and spread throughout the world. Correspondingly, Chávez expanded Venezuela’s diplomatic, political, economic and social relations with countries of the Global South, and President Nicolás Maduro has continued the same approach.

On the diplomatic arena, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU) recently held a joint summit in Santa Marta, Colombia, and the final statement explicitly condemned the threats against Venezuela and the whole Latin American and Caribbean region. Nations rejected these threats and expressed solidarity with Venezuela, even the people of the United States were amongst them.

Given the extensive deployment of the U.S. Navy to the Caribbean Sea since early September 2025, what is the Venezuelan government’s view on the actual objectives of these military moves? Do you consider these actions as part of a strategy for regime change in Venezuela?

The United States has set its objective in advance and is conducting propaganda and smear campaigns against countries and governments, such as Venezuela, that do not align with it.

The first false narrative was the so-called “Aragua Train”, a criminal group that was completely destroyed by Venezuelan security forces. However, some of its members fled the country and were sheltered by Venezuela’s opposition governments.

Then there was another lie, the “Cartel of the Suns.” Initially, it was introduced as a combat against drug trafficking, but since September it has expanded with the deployment of military and naval forces. The operation has involved at least eight warships, a nuclear submarine (in violation of the 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco), F-35 fighter jets, B2 strategic bombers, electronic reconnaissance aircrafts, over 1,200 missiles, and the number of troops deployed exceeds 10,000. In addition, the Aircraft Carrier Gerald R. Ford and its accompanying warships have also entered Caribbean waters, without respecting the 2014 decision of the CELAC organization to declare Latin America and the Caribbean a zone of peace.

All these deeds are made under the pretext of confronting “drug trafficking” boats, without any evidence or information about the status of those killed by the US government in these attacks. U.S. leaders openly talk about “regime change” and their goal is clear: to create a puppet government that will give them access to abundant resources of Venezuela like oil, gas, gold and rare minerals. These threats have existed since February 2, 1999, the beginning of Commander Chávez’s presidency; as in 2002, a coup took place that removed him from power for 47 hours, but the people returned him to the Miraflores Palace.

In September 2025, the United States carried out some airstrikes on several ships in international waters off the coast of Venezuela, claiming that the ships belonged to narcoterrorist groups such as Tren de Aragua. How has the Venezuelan government responded to these claims?

The United States, as per usual, tags any group it wants “terrorist”. Why? To justify its military actions in other countries; as we witnessed in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. The “terrorist” label was a pretext for occupying and exploiting the resources of those countries. What about the response of Venezuela? The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has responded within the framework of law and diplomacy. We have not and will not fall into the trap of American provocations, because Venezuela, like Latin America and the Caribbean, is a peaceful region. President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly called for peace, because peace guarantees the independence and sovereignty of our homeland.

On October 15, 2025, President Donald Trump authorized covert CIA operations on Venezuelan soil. How do you see this action as a threat to Venezuelan national sovereignty, and what steps has Maduro’s government taken to counter it?

The CIA has been present in Venezuela since the 1960s, always trying to destabilize governments that do not align with its interests. The CIA was also behind the 2002 coup against President Hugo Chavez. Today it no longer even tries to cover it up.

It seems that the time of faster release of “confidential documents” has arrived, and the United States itself will publicly expose these actions shortly.

These threats have been neutralized through a “popular-military-police alliance”. Recently, mercenaries having CIA-related documents were arrested in the eastern part of the country. They were planning a “false flag operation” to pave the way for a military invasion of Venezuela.

Four weeks ago, the Venezuelan government, via Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, the official spokesman and liaison to the United States administration, presented a document to the United States informing it of a group planning to bomb the area where the U.S. embassy in Caracas was located; but the United States ignored the warning.

Afterward, when an American warship was stationed in Trinidad and Tobago, the Bolivarian government provided information to the country’s Prime Minister, Ms. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, that a group of mercenaries were planning to repeat an operation similar to the explosion of the battleship Maine in Cuba in 1898 and the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964. The United States used those incidents as a pretext to start the war.

The government of Venezuela declared a state of military alert in September 2025 and mobilized the Bolivarian militia. How effective has this mobilization been and is there a plan for further training against potential threats?

Yes, President Nicolás Maduro, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, has the authority to order mobilization if he feels there is a threat to the country’s security.

As everyone knows, the “Bolivarian Militia of Venezuela” is the fifth branch of the armed forces and has a special position. Following the President’s call, not only the militia forces but also the ordinary people responded positively. In the Bolivarian squares across the country, people registered to defend their homeland and then went to the barracks to receive basic military training.

One week later, the armed forces were deployed to cities and villages to provide supplementary exercises to the newly trained people. The mobilization went beyond expectations, as the number of people registered reached 8 million.

It is worth mentioning that in Venezuela, this act is not a defense of personal, political, or religious interests, but rather a defense of the homeland.

In this regard, military exercises titled “Operation Independence 200” were held in different regions of the country. The last exercise was held on November 11 and 12, 2025, and more than 200,000 military men participated all over the country.

These exercises are being held to confront imperialist threats under the guise of “fighting drug trafficking”. In these exercises, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, police forces, and the people cooperate in the shape of a complete popular-military-police alliance to preserve the peace, independence, sovereignty, and dignity of the Venezuelan nation.

President Maduro stated on September 15, 2025, that diplomatic relations with the United States were “destroyed.” Are informal channels of communication still open and is there a possibility of resuming negotiations?

Yes, President Nicolas Maduro said that because, like Commander Chavez, he has always been a proponent of dialogue and negotiation.

First, there must be dialogue to resolve the misunderstandings that sometimes arise in any relationship. Efforts to negotiate have never ceased because President Maduro wants peace. He will not be intimidated, coerced, or provoked by the United States government or any other country.

It needs to be highlighted that President Maduro has said publicly over and over that we are looking for negotiations, and these negotiations have usually been conducted through Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, Venezuela’s special representative for dialogue with the United States administration. These negotiations have been held in different corners of the world, even in Caracas, at the Miraflores Palace. For example, on January 31 of this year, Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, was present there.

How have the new US sanctions against PDVSA (Petroleum of Venezuela) in September 2025 affected the country’s economy, and have any proposals been made to reduce tensions, such as transferring oil shares to American companies such as Chevron?

The sanctions did not start in September 2025, but rather the pressures, sanctions, unilateral coercive measures, and threats of regime change began when President Barack Obama called Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security of the United States” in 2014.

If the United States wants oil, it has to pay for it. Chevron Corporation still operates in Venezuela, however, companies like Exxon Mobil have tried to cut or disrupt relations between Chevron and PDVSA.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has so far faced 1042 sanctions from the United States and the European Union. In spite of this, we have been able to increase our level of economic recovery and now have 18 consecutive quarters of positive economic growth.

These new sanctions have just reinforced us as we have experience now. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will continue on its path to strengthen its economy and to develop security and stability for its people.

In October 2025, a US court granted permission to revoke the “Temporary Protected Status” of 300,000 Venezuelan immigrants. To what extent do you see this decision as an attempt to put more pressure on the government in Caracas?

This decision is a form of xenophobia. Yes, Venezuelans have been persecuted recently. They are being arrested in the United States and kept in the detention centers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a group that, like mercenaries, monitors citizens around the world, but their focus is specifically on Venezuelans, detaining them and then deporting them, even separating families.

I should reiterate that the entire wave of this immigration stemmed from the unilateral coercive measures that have been imposed on Venezuela since 2014. Loads of our compatriots left the country believing in the “American dream” which I call it the “American nightmare”. Some migrated first to South America, then to Europe, and then to the United States.

Meanwhile, a group of Venezuelan far-right politicians known as the “Coyotes”, led by Julio Borges, Leopoldo Lopez, Carlos Vecchio, and others, abused the situation for personal gain. When President Trump announced he would deport them, none of these leaders raised a voice of protest, as they profited immensely from this situation.

Right now, the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) has been revoked, but this is not a measure to put pressure on Venezuela. We will not surrender to any pressure.

Under President Maduro’s order in 2018, through the plan “Return to the Homeland”, more than 15,000 compatriots have returned to the country only in 2025 on flights operated by the national airline, Conviasa. Upon arrival, they are provided with basic medical services and social support to reunite with their families.

They have been repatriated from the United States, Mexico and El Salvador. In El Salvador, 252 of our compatriots were kept in inhumane detention centers in Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). We are pleased to see these people back home; they were deceived and are now victims of right-wing extremists and stateless Venezuelans living in the United States and Europe.

On October 10^th, 2025, the United Nations called for de-scalation of tensions and emphasized that Venezuela is not a center for cocaine trafficking. Can this international stance neutralize the scenario of an attack on Venezuela?

First of all, I must say that there is no “tension”, but rather a threat and aggression by the United States against Venezuela. The United Nations was late in acting and late in raising its voice against this blatant violation of international law and human rights by U.S. military forces in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has clearly stated that Venezuela is neither a producer or processor, nor a transit route for narcotics. This is the official report of the United Nations itself.

Also, Mr. Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has shown his objection against these killings in international waters. Until now, more than 70 people have been killed by American forces without trial or proof of guilt.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela announced that the CIA is preparing a false flag operation to justify aggression against Venezuela through a fake attack on a U.S. warship. What measures has Venezuela taken to neutralize this threat?

As I mentioned before, two false flag operations have been detected and thwarted. One involved a warship in Trinidad and Tobago and the other about four weeks earlier in Caracas, which intended to bomb the former U.S. embassy building in Venezuela.

These plots were uncovered with the arrest of a group of mercenaries working with the CIA. Their goal was to cause an explosion, blame Venezuela, and then justify a military invasion; exactly as happened in Panama, where the Americans killed their own soldiers and then blamed the Panamanian defense forces in order to invade that country and capture President Noriega. However, these plots were thwarted by the watchfulness of our intelligence and counterintelligence agencies and the collaboration of organized people who transmitted the information. Mercenaries and terrorists who had been commissioned from abroad by Venezuelan far-right extremists were arrested. They intended to disrupt the peace of the nation, but they will not succeed.